ERASER CHILDREN

Fantastic Planet: Sydney Sci-Fi and Fantasy Film Festival opens at Dendy Cinema Newtown, Sydney, Australia  this Friday night with the world premiere of the mesmerising Australian science fiction feature film ERASER CHILDREN.

Other festival highlights include:

Saturday October 31, at 11:45pm a special Halloween midnight screening of the side-splitting creature feature INFESTATION.  Every ticket purchased for the film comes with a free horror or sci-fi DVD!

Tuesday November 3, at 7:00pm the international festival hit CRYPTIC, a time-travel themed, mind-bender that poses the question: “What would you do if you called your old home telephone number and your younger self answered?”

Thursday November 5, at 9:00pm SAMURAI AVENGER: THE BLIND WOLF, a pulse-charging homage to 70’s action exploitation cinema. Followed by a Q&A with special international guest Kurando Mitsutake, the film’s director and star.

The festival invades the screens of Dendy Newtown (and other Sydney venues) from October 30 to November 6, 2009. In addition to over 60 fantastic films, the festival is hosting parties, a filmmaking forum, and other special events.

Full program details are available at the festival’s official website: www.fantasticplanetfilmfestival.com Tickets can be pre-booked through Dendy Newtown at www.dendy.com.au or by phone: (02) 9550 5699

Colin Firth in A Single Man (left) and Matthew Goode in A Single Man

Colin Firth will be honored with the “Outstanding Performance of the Year Award” at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on February 13. The actor will be recognized for his role in Tom Ford’s Toronto ‘09 feature, “A Single Man,” which the Weinstein Company picked up in September.

In the film, Firth portrays 52-year-old British college professor, George, in Los Angeles in 1962 at the height of the Cuban missile crisis who is struggling to find meaning to his life after the death of his longtime partner, Jim [Matthew Goode]. The romantic tale of love interrupted is an adaptation based on a novel by Christopher Isherwood. Firth made his entry into American Cinema in 1989 in Milos Forman’s “Valmont” and co-starred in the romantic comedy “Circle of Friends” in 1995. In 2003 he starred in “Love Actually” as well as the period drama, “Girl With a Pearl Earring.”

Firth will join an illustrious group of previous SBIFF “Outstanding Performance Award” recipients, including Penelope Cruz (2009), Angelina Jolie (2008), Helen Mirren (2007), Heath Ledger (2006), Kate Winslet (2005) and Charlize Theron (2004).

The Outstanding Performance of the Year Tribute to Colin Firth will take place at the Arlington Theatre on Saturday, February 13, 2010. A Single Man will open December 11 in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles with an expansion on Christmas day. It is considered a major player in this year’s awards season.

“Colin Firth grabs on to the best role of his career in ‘A Single Man’ forcing us to have another look at his incredible list of films up to this point,” commented SBIFF executive director Roger Durling in a statement. “He’s one of the most enduring performers working in cinema today, and we’re so thrilled that we’re honoring this most deserving actor at the peak of his game.”

source: Santa Barbara International Film Festival

Chasing The Lotus

The second annual Bel Air Film Festival, presented by Gem Shopping Network, has announced it’s official selection of films to be screened in Bel Air and throughout greater Los Angeles from November 13th-17th. The festival will hold 35 films screenings and 4 red carpet events bringing together the community of Bel Air and entertainment industry. The festival showcases some of the most creative films and filming talent of today bringing industry tastemakers, green-lighters, and film fans all together for this unique festival experience.

“A large portion of the entertainment industry resides in Bel Air and we are proud to support filmmaking and bring the community together,” said Bel Air Film Festival^TM President Melody Storm.

A Film Fashion themed red carpet gala will kick off the festival on Friday, November 13th with a special musical performance by “Film Fashion Visionary,” honoree Taryn Manning. The multi-talented Manning will be performing music from her band Boomkat’s latest album A Million Trillion Stars. Known for her acting skills in 8 Mile, Hustle & Flow and more recently her guest appearances on TV series Melrose Place and Sons of Anarchy, Manning is a true triple threat mixing her love for fashion and music with her clothing line, Born Uniqorn. The line expresses her true fashion style and has been widely recognized in the fashion industry by the media and fellow fashionistas. The festival will recognize Vivica A. Fox from Kill Bill, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Dancing with the Stars, and one of People Magazine’s Most Beautiful People for her work and dedication in film with their “Best Actress,” award. The Los Angeles Premiere of, Moustachette, a short film about the tale of love, art, and what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger featuring Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump and Pete Wentz along with Yellowcard’s Ryan Key will also be screened. This will be followed by the feature film screening of Coco Chanel starring Shirley MacLaine. Coco Chanel is the rags-to-riches tale charting the rise of one of the most influential fashion icons of the 20th century. From her humble childhood in a French orphanage, through her early days as a young dressmaker’s assistant, to her passionate and tragic love with a dashing Englishman, and ultimately to her success as a pioneering icon, “Coco Chanel” is the story of a glamorous woman who was hard to love and harder to ignore.

On Saturday, November 14th, short film screenings include Melissa Rauch (Cath and Kim) in Condom Killer, Adam Carolla in Head, Heart, and Balls, Jill Michele Melean and Larry Hankin in Outlaw Emmet Demus & The Porno Queen, I’m Not Matt Damon, Steak and Milk directed by Michael Maxxis, Majestic and the Masked Man, and Moustachette. World Premiere short films include The Family, Road To Hollywood, Dim Light, Compact Only, Napoleon, and The Seventh Floor.

The world premiere of The Diet Life a feature film exposing the life of a former supermodel turned overweight woman who is forced to resurrect her dying career, she falls in love with her trainer, and plunges him headlong into the hollow world of sex, drugs, and being beautiful.

Malibu Magazine and Danny Lee host Chasing The Lotus, a documentary embarking a cinematic journey inspired by lost footage of the underground filmmakers Greg Weaver and Spyder Wills who documented surf discovery as it migrated around the globe, a fusion of super 8mm film, photo stills and contemporary interviews. The film includes footage and interviews with over 35 top surfers including Gerry Lopez, Stacy Peralta, Bob Hurley, Donavon Frankenreiter, Rob Machado, Sunny Garcia, Corky Carroll, Herbie Fletcher. The screening will be followed by a Q & A by the Director Gregory Schell.

Screenings on Sunday November 15 include a Los Angeles Premiere red carpet event documentary for Mind of a Demon: The Larry Linkogle Story. It is an analytical look into the psyche of Larry Linkogle, a world-record holding dirt bike legend and a man battling his inner demons as he struggles to maintain structure, sobriety and self-control. The film includes archival footage of Larry’s embarking journey in the motocross world, and interviews with the industry’s top names describing the birth of freestyle motocross.

A red carpet British Film evening, hosted by the, “Brits In LA,” will include a screening of international short Inviolate Rose, and award winning, international feature film Nobody The Great.

World premiere documentaries include Science Plus Dharma Equals Social Responsibility, produced by Carlo Burton. The film captures Nobel Prize Winner Richard Ernst who brought the advent of MRI’s through his pure research. The filming takes place in Ernst’s hometown of Switzerland, and portrays the Buddhist beliefs. I Remember Better When I Paint is a World Premier Documentary featuring Rita Hayworth’s daughter, Yasmin Aga Khan, president of Alzheimer Disease International. The film reviews the latest technology in treating Alzheimer’s disease and focuses on the positive results received from patients that paint.

The international documentary Garbage Dreams widely promoted by Al Gore and the official selection at nine other film festivals, will screen late Sunday afternoon. It follows three teenage boys born into the trash trade, growing up in the world’s largest garbage village on the outskirts of Cairo.

Los Angeles feature film premiere The Yankles is about Charlie Jones, a professional baseball player who was released from the Los Angeles Spirits because of a drinking problem. Upon being paroled from prison after serving time for his third drunk driving conviction, Charlie endeavors to serve 192 hours mandatory community service by coaching baseball. Charlie soon discovers that the only people willing to give him a second chance are a group of Jewish, orthodox, yeshiva students who formed an upstart baseball team called The Yankles. Fortunately for Charlie, The Yankles are as desperate for a coach as he is for community service.

Entertainment attorney, Mitra Ahouraian will moderate a Film and Finance Panel taking place at UCLA geared towards independent filmmakers. Panelists include Valerie McCaffrey (Casting Director & Producer), Hal Sandoff (Entertainment Finance Consultant & Head of Foreign Sales at ICM Agency), Craig Sheftell (Managing Director of Credit Finance), Wayne Repich (Private Equity Investor), Roman Kopovitch (Sales Agent at Bleiberg Entertainment), and Bianca Bezdek-Goodloe, managing partner of bi-coastal entertainment law practice Bezdek Law, specializing in independent film finance and intellectual proptery.

Monday, November 16, The Sigi Ziering Institute will be hosting a United States premiere screening of the The Phoenixes, a film about the Holocaust at the American Jewish University. Phoenixes tells the profound and moving stories of seven Shoah survivors who have played a significant role in the development of Israeli society. The optimism in the stories of the survivors is palpable, and it provides fresh insight into the capabilities of human strength and determination.

The festival’s black tie gala closing ceremony takes place Tuesday, November 17th. With a night of laughter and awards at the world famous Improv on Melrose, hosted by MAD TV, Showtime, and RENO 911’s Jill-Michele Melean. Neal Brennon of the Dave Chappelle Show will be honored with the festival’s “Best Comedy” award. Kerri Kenney, Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant, the creators of Comedy Central’s hit show RENO 911 will be recognized for their work and devotion in film with the festival’s “Outstanding Achievement in Comedy for Film and Television” award.

source: Bel Air Film Festival

"A Prophet"

The Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival announced its winners and Jacques Audiard’s A Prophet picked up the Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival’s inaugural Star Of London award for best film.

Best Film - A Prophet

In this astounding prison drama, when Malik, a young French Arab, finds himself in prison with no friends or allies, he goes out of his way to be useful to the dominant Corsican gang and its leader Cesar Luciani. After a gruelling rites-of-passage murder of a new friend, he builds, by slow degrees, a power base of his own.

Grierson Award | Best Documentary - Defamation

Yoav Shamir’s latest documentary deals with anti-Semitism, which he claims never to have experienced personally, yet he hears the term used everyday, describing it as ‘a constant buzz, always in the background, always annoying’. His quest leads him to explore whether anti-Semitism has become an excusable prejudice in some civilised societies, or whether it is used as a spectre to drum up support for right wing Zionism.

Best British Newcomer - The Scouting Book for Boys

The debut feature from Tom Harper, the Scouting Book for Boys is a drama depicting the anxieties, awkwardness and fears of being a teenager.  Having grown up together on a caravan park on the Norfolk coast where their respective parents work, young teenagers David (Thomas Turgoose) and Emily (Holly Grainger) have become close friends, deeply reliant on each other for distractions and mischief. It’s a shock to them both when it’s decided that Emily is to be sent away to live with her father, and there’s even greater alarm throughout the park community when Emily disappears. David struggles to cope as the situation grows ever more complex.

Sutherland Award | First Feature Award - Ajami

Ajami - a powerful crime drama set on the mean streets of Israel.  Ajami is a tough Jaffa neighborhood, populated with Jews, Arabs and Christians, and rife with tension. Omar (Shahir Kabaha) and his younger brother Nasri (Fouad Habash) fear repercussions against their family when their uncle shoots a member of an influential criminal clan. They can end the vendetta by paying a substantial cash tribute to the offended family, and need to raise the money fast. Palestinian refugee Malek (Ibrahim Frege) is also desperate for money, for an operation his mother needs, and works illegally at a restaurant. Binj (Scandar Copti) has had enough of the place and his friends, and dreams of leaving so he might live openly with his Jewish girlfriend. Cop Dando (Eran Naim) is haunted by the disappearance of his brother, who went missing while on military service. As more is revealed about the characters’ lives, angers and frustrations, their fates become drawn together.

BFI Fellowships

The highest accolade that the British Film Institute bestows was awarded tonight to distinguished British actor John Hurt and renowned Malian filmmaker Souleymane Cissé for their significant achievements in the fields of acting and directing.

"The Cove"

The 2009 Naples International Film Festival which runs from November 5 thru 8 will open with the screening of “The Cove” - a controversial and much talked about documentary about a group of activists, led by renown dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry, who infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan to expose shocking instances of animal abuse.

Other films featured at the festival are:

• That Evening Sun - a film about an aging Tennessee farmer who returns to his homestead and must confront a family betrayal, the reappearance of an old enemy, and the loss of his farm.
• Bitter/Sweet - Coffee and hate and love.
• Desdemona: A Love Story - Gil Garcia is at the end of his life. Wounded and bleeding in a church confessional, he tells an unsuspecting Father Wade his tragic story.
• Favorite Son - David Paxton is a frustrated 30-year-old, AA baseball player who is at the end of his career. He returns to his hometown and becomes obsessed with a former classmate, Joan, and her troubled teenaged son, Ross.
• The Baker - A romantic comedy about a hit man who tries to quit the business by going to a small Irish village, where he’s mistaken for the new town baker and falls in love with the town veterinarian.
• True North - The skipper of a Scottish trawler has worked for more than 32 years to buy his fishing vessel, but is bankrupt and is about to lose his ship to the bank. While in the port of Ostend, Belgium, the skipper’s son, Sean, accepts a large sum of money to smuggle Chinese illegal immigrants to Scotland in an attempt to help his father keep the trawler.
• Li Tong - Shot in China by first time director Nian Liu, Li Tong is a children’s story for all ages, following a little girl’s journey home through the old and new streets of a changing Beijing.

Documentaries include:

• A Bridge Life: Finding Our Way Home

• The Back Nine
• Big Cypress Swamp: The Western Everglades
• The Human Experience
• Ingreedients
• Momz Hot Rocks
• Nerdcore Rising
• Official Rejection
• Shooting Beauty
• The Way We Get By

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Juried awards

• Best Feature Film: “The Man Who Loved Yngve,” directed by Stian Kristiansen.
• Feature Film Honorable Mention: “I Can’t Think Straight,” directed by Shamim Sarif. Best Documentary Film: “Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement,” directed by Gréta Olafsdóttir and Susan Muska.
• Best Short Film: “Diana,” directed by Aleem Khan.
• Short Film Honorable Mention: “Claiming The Title: Gay Olympics On Trial,” directed by Jonathan Joiner and Robert H. Martin.
• Most innovative short: “The Apple,” directed by Emilie Jouvet.

Audience awards

• Favorite Narrative Feature: “Prayers For Bobby,” directed by Russell Mulcahy.
• Favorite Documentary: “Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement,” directed by Gréta Olafsdóttir and Susan Muska.
• Favorite Local Film: “Waxie Moon,” directed by Wes Hurley.
• Favorite Short: “Claiming The Title: Gay Olympics On Trial,” directed by Jonathan Joiner and Robert H. Martin.
• Favorite Boys Short: “Dirty Magazines,” directed by Jay J. Levy.
• Favorite Girls Short: “One Night,” directed by Laura Jean Cronin.

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"CROSSING" by Kim Tae-kyun -- Best Feature Film

The 13th Annual Hollywood Film Festival’s “Hollywood Awards(r)” ceremony was held last night.

The winners of the festival’s film competition are: “CROSSING” by Kim Tae-kyun — Best Feature Film; “GARBAGE DREAMS” by Mai Iskander — Best Documentary; “SCENESTERS” by Todd Berger — Best Comedy; “STORIES FROM THE PERCH” by Andrew Zimbelman — Best Animation, “LAMBS” by Stephen Huff — Best Short Subject, “AS I LAY DYING - THE SOUND OF TRUTH” by Brian Thompson — Best Music Video.

J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek” was announced as this year’s winner of the “Hollywood Movie Award.” The nominees for the “Hollywood Movie Award” were: “500 Days of Summer,” “District 9,” “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,” “The Hangover,” “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “Star Trek,” “Tranformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” and “UP.”

The festival also announced this year’s winner of the “Hollywood World Award” — “The White Ribbon” (Germany/Austria) directed by Michael Haneke. The nominees for the “Hollywood World Award” were: “Bright Star” (UK/Australia) directed by Jane Campion, “I Am Love” (Italy) directed by Luca Guadagnino, “Lourdes” (France/Austria) directed by Jessica Hausner, “A Prophet” (France) directed by Jacques Audiard, and “The White Ribbon” (Germany/Austria) directed by Michael Haneke.

Special honors went to Robert De Niro, Hilary Swank, Christoph Waltz, Julianne Moore, Jeremy Renner, Carey Mulligan, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Melanie Lynskey, Zachary Quinto, Paul Schneider, and Gabourey ‘Gabby’ Sidibe for acting, Bradley Cooper for comedy, Kathryn Bigelow and Lee Daniels for directing; Ryan Kavanaugh for producing; Nora Ephron, Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber for screenwriting; “UP,” directed by Pete Docter, for animation; Alexandre Desplat for film composing; Roger Deakins for cinematography; Dana Glauberman for editing; Scott Farrar (”Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”) for visual effects; Rick Carter for production design; and Colleen Atwood for costume design.

In addition, the Hollywood Humanitarian Award was presented to Father Rick Frechette for his devotion to the medical needs of children in the Caribbean and around the world.

''Eastern Plays''

The Bulgarian film  ”Eastern Plays,” won the 3 of the top prizes at the 22nd Tokyo International Film Festival.  The film was awarded the biggest prize of the festival, the Sakura Grand Prix for Best Film, director Kamen Kalev won the award for Best Director and the Best Actor award went to Christo Christov.  Kalev received the Best Actor award on behalf of Christov, who reportedly died from of a drug addiction problem toward the end of the film’s shooting. The 89-minute movie depicts events that occur after two brothers who had lost contact were suddenly reunited.

22nd Tokyo International Film Festival Winners

Sakura Grand Prix - “Eastern Plays” Director: Kamen Kalev
Special Jury Prize - “Rabia”  Director: Sebastian Cordero
Audience Award - “The Trotsky”, Director: Jacob Tierney
Best Director - Kamen Kalev, Eastern Plays
Best Actress - Julie Gayet, Eight Times Up
Best Actor - Christo Christov, Eastern Plays
Toyota Earth Grand Prix - Wolf, Director: Nicolas Vanier
Best Asia Film Award - A Brand New Life, Director: Ounie Lecomte
Special Contribution Award - Yasmin Ahmad
Special Mention - I Saw the Sun, Director: Mahsun K?rm?z?g?l
Japanese Eyes, Best Picture Award - LIVE TAPE, Director: Tetsuaki Matsue

The Golden Marc'Aurelio Jury Award for Best Film: Brotherskab / Brotherhood by Nicolo Donato

THE JURY AWARD

- The Golden Marc’Aurelio Jury Award for Best Film: Brotherskab / Brotherhood by Nicolo Donato

- The Silver Marc’Aurelio Jury Award for Best Actress:Helen Mirren for The Last Station

- The Silver Marc’Aurelio Jury Award for Best Actor:Sergio Castellitto for Alza la Testa

- The Silver Marc’Aurelio Grand Jury Award: L’uomo che verrà by Giorgio Diritti

THE AUDIENCE AWARD

- The Golden Marc’Aurelio Audience Award for Best Film - BNL:L’uomo che verrà by Giorgio Diritti
PRIZES AWARDED BY THE CHILDREN AND TEEN’S JURIES

- The Silver Marc’Aurelio Award Alice nella città under 12 :Last Ride by Glendyn Ivin

- The Silver Marc’Aurelio Award Alice nella città over 12: Oorlogswinter / Winter in Wartime by Martin Koolhoven

- Special Mention for Vegas by Gunnar Vikene

THE PRIZE FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY

- The Silver Marc’Aurelio for the best documentary film: Sons of Cuba by Andrew Lang

- Special Mention: Fratelli d’Italia by Claudio Giovannesi

- Special Mention: Severe Clear by Kristian Fraga
THE ACTING AWARD

Meryl Streep received The Golden Marc’Aurelio Acting Award.

COLLATERAL AWARD

- L’uomo che verrà by Giorgio Diritti:
Winner of the “La Meglio Gioventù” Award for Best Film in Competition awarded by the Ministry of Youth. The winning film is selected among works that explore youth and educational themes

Anita Kravos:
Winner of the “Libera Associazione Rappresentanza di Artisti (L.A.R.A.)” Award for best Italian actress for her performance in Alessandro Angelini Alaza la testa

H.O.T. - Human Organ Traffic by Roberta Orazi:
Winner of the Enel Cuore Award for best film dealing with social issues - L’Altro Cinema Section - Extra

Brotherskab By Nicolo Donato.
Winner of the “Farfalla d’oro” (Agiscuola) Award

LEVI’S a No one’s child by Stefan Arsenijevic
Winner of the Best European Project- (La Fabbrica dei Progetti) -

The Cove by Louie Psihoyos
Winner of the IKEA Award

Latta e caffè by Antonello Matarazzo
Winner of the HAG Award

Alba Rohrwacher
Winner of the Special Award “10eLotto”

Opening film La Mission starring Benjamin Bratt, Erika Alexander and Talisa Soto Bratt

The Artivist Collective announced the slate for the 6th Annual Artivist Film Festival including the festival’s opening film La Mission starring Benjamin Bratt, Erika Alexander and Talisa Soto Bratt. This year’s festival will take place December 1-5 at the historic Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, home of the American Cinematheque, screening over 40 independent, narratives, documentaries, shorts, and experimental films from around the globe. The festival concludes with The 2009 Artivist Awards on Saturday, December 5.

The festival’s mission is to strengthen the voice of advocate artists - “Artivists” - while raising public awareness for global causes.

Artivist is the first film festival dedicated to addressing International Human Rights, Children’s Advocacy, Environmental Preservation, and Animal Advocacy. At the conclusion of the Film Festival, Artivist awards a feature and short in each of these four categories.

The Artivist Awards also honor those artists whose exemplary work in their community stands out as a shining example of one person’s ability to change the world for the better. Past Artivist Award recipients include: Ted Danson, Alyssa Milano, Joaquin Phoenix, Matthew McConaughey, Mira Sorvino, James Cromwell, Ed Begley Jr, Tippi Hedren, and Mike Farrell.

The Artivist Awards have also paid tribute to such highly regarded international organizations as Amnesty International, the Humane Society of the United States, Global Green, Greenpeace, Prevent Child Abuse America, and the Child Welfare League of America.

Since its inception in 2004, the Artivist Film Festival has showcased over 400 films representing more than 45 countries around the world. Artivist has reached millions of people with its film festivals in Hollywood, London, Tokyo, Mexico City, and Lisbon, and through its website at www.ARTIVISTS.org. Additionally, in recognition of the socially conscious platform it provides, Artivist has been endorsed by Claes Nobel of the Nobel Prize family, Amnesty International, and the United Nations Department of Public Information.

Many films that have premiered at Artivist have gone on to great acclaim including Academy Award winner Born Into Brothels, Academy Award Nominees Super-Size Me and God Sleeps in Rwanda, and the Los Angeles Premieres of Fast Food Nation, Emmanuelle’s Gift, Stolen Childhoods, Zeitgeist, Zeitgest Addendum and Trudell.

This year Artivist is proud to provide the community its “Artivist Stimulus Package” of free tickets for all festival film screenings. In order to attend the films, festival goers can order two tickets for each screening at www.ARTIVISTS.org or at the Egyptian Theater box office during the festival.

The slate of evening films in the 600 seat Lloyd Rigler Theater of the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theater for the 2009 Artivist Film Festival include:

Tuesday December 1, 8:00pm La Mission - Artivist Opening Night Event Screening
Set in the colorful, seedy streets of the San Francisco district that bears its name, “La Mission” is a story of redemption imbued with the curative power of Aztec tradition. Respected - and feared - as the baddest Latino on the block, Che (Benjamin Bratt), a former criminal and recovering alcoholic, resorts to violence and intimidation to get what he wants. A bus driver by day, Che lives for his beloved son, Jesse (Jeremy Ray Valdez), his lifelong friends and his passion for lowrider cars. But Che’s macho world is crushed when he discovers that Jesse is gay. Che then reacts in the only way he knows, violence. Enter Lena, Che’s attractive neighbor and a force to be reckoned with. As a mutual attraction develops, Lena challenges Che to reconcile with his son. From acclaimed director Peter Bratt, “La Mission” is a haunting story of one man’s struggle to overcome homophobia and break the cycle of violence that has haunted his life - and to heal and transform himself and his family in the process.

Wednesday December 2, 7:30 pm, Ice Bears of Beaufort - Los Angeles Premiere
Stunning, unrushed cinematography and editing, natural sound without narration and a sparse music score by Patrick O’Hearn transform Arthur C. Smith’s documentary into a meditative plea to save one of the earth’s most powerful - and comically playful - animals. This documentary is witness to Alaska’s Beaufort Sea coast as a critical polar bear habitat, endangered by efforts to drill for oil. Five years in the making by a single resident of an Inupiat Eskimo village, the film is a color-intense, cinematic portrait of Alaskan polar bears never before captured. The body of the documentary chronicles polar bear activity and year-round use of the coastal and offshore areas of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the adjacent Beaufort Sea.
Wednesday December 2, 9:00 pm, Children of War - Los Angeles Premiere
Set in the east African country of Uganda, Children of War, directed by Bryan Single, is a film that chronicles the daily struggle towards rehabilitation and reconciliation by a group of recently escaped child soldiers of the Lord’s Resistance Army, one of the world’s longest running and most brutal militias. To add perspective to the stories of these children, the film also follows the chief priest of the Lord’s Resistance Army, as well as recipients of the Army’s professed miracles and victims of its atrocities. Together these individuals will illuminate the pitfalls, challenges and triumphs of a war-sick society desperately attempting to transition from violence to peace.

Thursday December 3, 7:15 pm, An Omar Broadway Film - Los Angeles Premiere
An inmate in Newark, New Jersey’s notorious Northern State Prison allows viewers to experience the tension of living in the prison’s maximum security gang unit in this collaborative documentary from filmmaker Douglas Tirola and inmate Omar Broadway. Distinguished by its status as one of the most dangerous cities in the United States, Newark is a haven for violent crime. Back when he was a free man, Broadway spend the majority of his time hanging out on the corner of 15th and William, a part of the city that most residents would drive out of their way to avoid. In 1999 Broadway was incarcerated in the maximum-security gang unit of Northern State Prison. Here, inmates are only let out of their cells for an hour a week, as well as for the occasional shower. After secretly obtaining a video camera in 2004, Broadway and his bunkmate Buddy Randolph began documenting life on the inside. The result is a discomforting look into a deeply claustrophobic world, a place where even the most insignificant objects seems to take on the utmost importance. Somehow, despite filming from such a limited vantage point, Broadway is able to offer a detailed expose of the corruption that goes on behind these reinforced steel doors. Meanwhile, as Broadway’s expose sets off an unanticipated chain of events, his collaborator Tirola offers a look at the prisoner’s old neighborhood while discussing the recent developments concerning the camera to his loving and opinionated mother.

Thursday December 3, 9:30 pm, Intelligent Life - American Premiere
The time has come for us to take responsibility for the choices that we make in our everyday lives and the effect those choices have on us and on the planet. But how? Intelligent Life is a stark and unfiltered examination of the unintended consequences of modern American lives. Behind the scenes, our own convenience and comfort are often the greatest causes of suffering and destruction. Shot in high-definition and in a photo-essay style, Intelligent Life is a visually stunning portrait of modern American life. The glorious soundtrack that accompanies the film features a number of Grammy Award-nominated recording artists. Directed by Brian Malone, the film is a winner of the Green Seal from the Environmental Media Association.

Friday December 4, 7:30pm, Belonging - Los Angeles Premiere
Directed by Gerard Ungerman and Audrey Brohy and narrated by Dustin Hoffman, the Inuit-inflected Belonging leavens its informational load and scarifying message with dazzling shots of the Canadian Arctic and, ultimately, a very hopeful message. It serves as a primer on both how we got into this mess and what we can do about getting out of it. Not just science, but religion too, can be brought to bear to open our eyes and strengthen our resolve. The more natural resources are consumed, the more the human population explodes, increasing the need for more resources. This Catch-22 has resulted in massive numbers of species extinctions, dead zones in the ocean that are increasing in size and number every year, and more horrors than most people can even bear to contemplate.

Saturday December 5, 1:00pm, Consuming Kids - Los Angeles Premiere
Consuming Kids, directed by Adriana Barbaro, throws desperately needed light on the practices of a relentless multi-billion dollar marketing machine that now sells kids and their parents everything from junk food and violent video games to bogus educational products and the family car. Drawing on the insights of health care professionals, children’s advocates, and industry insiders, the film focuses on the explosive growth of child marketing in the wake of deregulation, showing how youth marketers have used the latest advances in psychology, anthropology, and neuroscience to transform American children into one of the most powerful and profitable consumer demographics in the world. Consuming Kids pushes back against the wholesale commercialization of childhood, raising urgent questions about the ethics of children’s marketing and its impact on the health and well-being of kids.

Saturday December 5, 3:30pm - Dia De Luz (Day of Light) - Los Angeles Premiere
On March 6, 2008 a flood of people, music, and kites invaded the city landfill in Managua, Nicaragua, where nearly 1,500 people live, work, and make their homes. The trash dump is called La Chureca, which means the Scavenging Place and can be described as a post-apocalyptic war zone, as people search through the piles of burning trash, looking for things to eat, fix, and recycle. Director Matt Katsolis walks alongside musician Braddigan from sunrise to sunset as he is joined by hundreds of students, artists, athletes, and musicians as they break down emotional, physical, and cultural barriers, while reawakening the dreams, imagination, and hope of the people who live there. Along the way they learn that the most powerful weapon for change can be the most surprising as they seek to bring love into a place filled with hate, light into a place filled with darkness, and replace the silence with melody using music and the arts to rebuild, restore, and bring healing to communities ravaged by extreme poverty. It is their hope to identify and meet the immediate physical needs, raise awareness about trash dump communities, and fight social injustice.

Artivist Founder-President, Diaky Diaz, states: “Raising awareness for the interdependence between Humanity, Animals, and the Environment is the true mission of Artivist. Filmmakers and NGOs from around the world gather at the Artivist Film Festival to support films that not only inform but inspire positive actions in our global community.” She adds, “We are excited about the upcoming festival and we’re pleased to be back at our ‘home’, the beautiful and historic Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, with a new and exciting program of socially conscious films.”

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