Academy invitee Eddie Redmayne in 'The Theory of Everything.' Academy invites 322 new members: 'More diverse and inclusive list of filmmakers and artists than ever before' The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has offered membership to 322 individuals "who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures." According to the Academy's press release, "those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy's membership in 2015." In case all 322 potential new members say an enthusiastic Yes, that means an injection of new blood representing about 5 percent of the Academy's current membership. In the words of Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs (as quoted in the press release), in 2015 "our branches have recognized a more diverse and inclusive list of filmmakers and artists than ever before, and we look forward to adding their creativity, ideas and experience to our organization." In recent years, the Academy membership has...
- 7/1/2015
- by Anna Robinson
- Alt Film Guide
©Renzo Piano Building Workshop/©Studio Pali Fekete architects/©A.M.P.A.S.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this week that the Los Angeles City Council, in a unanimous vote, approved plans for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Construction will begin this summer, and ceremonial groundbreaking festivities will occur this fall.
“I am thrilled that Los Angeles is gaining another architectural and cultural icon,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “My office of economic development has worked directly with the museum’s development team to ensure that the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will create jobs, support tourism, and pay homage to the industry that helped define our identity as the creative capital of the world.”
“We are grateful to our incredible community of supporters who have helped make this museum a reality,” said Dawn Hudson, the Academy’s CEO. “Building this museum has been an Academy...
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this week that the Los Angeles City Council, in a unanimous vote, approved plans for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Construction will begin this summer, and ceremonial groundbreaking festivities will occur this fall.
“I am thrilled that Los Angeles is gaining another architectural and cultural icon,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “My office of economic development has worked directly with the museum’s development team to ensure that the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will create jobs, support tourism, and pay homage to the industry that helped define our identity as the creative capital of the world.”
“We are grateful to our incredible community of supporters who have helped make this museum a reality,” said Dawn Hudson, the Academy’s CEO. “Building this museum has been an Academy...
- 6/27/2015
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Strangely dropping a press release on a historic day where the nation's attention is elsewhere, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed their annual list of new member invitees this morning. For those who criticize the makeup of the Academy there was some good news and the stark realization the organization still has a long way to go. The Academy has spent the last eight to 10 years attempting to diversify its membership and this year's class mostly reflects that. There are significantly more invitees of Asian and African-American descent, but the male to female disparity is still depressing. Out of the 25 potential new members of the Actor's Branch only seven are women. And, no, there isn't really an acceptable way for the Academy to spin that sad fact. Additionally, It's important to realize the 322 people noted in the release have only been invited to join Hollywood's most exclusive club.
- 6/26/2015
- by Gregory Ellwood
- Hitfix
Kali 8 Productions/Kali Films, the production company behind the critically acclaimed documentary Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth and directed by UK raised, Kenyan born director Pratibha Parmar, have joined forces with Dexter Davis' D Street Pictures to co-produce the romantic comedy G.P.S….I Love You written my Ellen Gavin. G.P.S…I love you is set to start production in Los Angeles in early 2015. It tells the story of Liberty Sanchez, an Irish/Latin American radio traffic reporter who sees her job as dead-end until she meets a charming, successful and socially conscious British entrepreneur who motivates her to do more, whilst having to deal with an...
- 6/2/2014
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Alice Walker knew that she had to do well to make her mother proud.
Imagine how proud she would have been when her daughter became the first black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, for "The Color Purple."
Filmmaker Pratibha Parmar draws from multiple interviews with Walker, historic documents, news footage and clips to create "Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth," airing on PBS' "American Masters" Friday, Feb. 7 (check local listings).
Parmar met the activist and author of more than 30 books in 1991 and began interviewing her eight years later.
"I did an interview outside the shack in which her mother grew up out in the country," Parmar tells Zap2it.
Walker's voice-over explains how her mother made even this ramshackle shack a home. She bought scraps of wallpaper for the kids' room, but when she could get no more, she ironed brown paper bags to line the walls in other rooms.
Imagine how proud she would have been when her daughter became the first black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, for "The Color Purple."
Filmmaker Pratibha Parmar draws from multiple interviews with Walker, historic documents, news footage and clips to create "Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth," airing on PBS' "American Masters" Friday, Feb. 7 (check local listings).
Parmar met the activist and author of more than 30 books in 1991 and began interviewing her eight years later.
"I did an interview outside the shack in which her mother grew up out in the country," Parmar tells Zap2it.
Walker's voice-over explains how her mother made even this ramshackle shack a home. She bought scraps of wallpaper for the kids' room, but when she could get no more, she ironed brown paper bags to line the walls in other rooms.
- 2/7/2014
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
Award-winning British filmmaker, Pratibha Parmar's documentary feature film on writer and activist Alice Walker, titled Alice Walker: Beauty In Truth, premieres nationally Friday, February 7 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). The film, which includes contributions from Danny Glover and Steven Spielberg, among others, was in the making for some 5 years, with a rough cut completed after the filmmaker was able to raise a whopping $55,000 via IndieGoGo in 2011. This film looks at key moments in the life of artist, self-confessed renegade and outlaw, Alice Walker, and follows the extraordinary journey of Walker from a childhood of poverty and racist...
- 2/3/2014
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Romantic comedy pitched by two first-time writers.
D Street Pictures, a subsidiary of D Street Media Group, has optioned the script Heaven Hath No Fury, a romantic comedy written by newcomers Leon Chills and Chad Sanders of it Productions.
The project is described as in the vein Boomerang. The story follows a New York playboy who knocks the world off balance when he breaks the wrong woman’s heart and men start to see the world through the eyes of women.
They pitched the script to D Street CEO Dexter Davis at Cannes 2013.
“It was extremely exciting to meet such extraordinarily talented young African American men who clearly understood the genre,” said Davis, D Street was thrilled to get involved with the development and now looking forward to packaging the film with A-list talent.”
“After Leon’s pitch to Mr. Davis in Cannes, it’s been full-steam ahead,” said Sanders.” “We hope the...
D Street Pictures, a subsidiary of D Street Media Group, has optioned the script Heaven Hath No Fury, a romantic comedy written by newcomers Leon Chills and Chad Sanders of it Productions.
The project is described as in the vein Boomerang. The story follows a New York playboy who knocks the world off balance when he breaks the wrong woman’s heart and men start to see the world through the eyes of women.
They pitched the script to D Street CEO Dexter Davis at Cannes 2013.
“It was extremely exciting to meet such extraordinarily talented young African American men who clearly understood the genre,” said Davis, D Street was thrilled to get involved with the development and now looking forward to packaging the film with A-list talent.”
“After Leon’s pitch to Mr. Davis in Cannes, it’s been full-steam ahead,” said Sanders.” “We hope the...
- 1/21/2014
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
It's that time of the year again when my email inbox is flooded with press releases announcing Black History Month programming from TV networks, as well as events celebrating the month, from various organizations, etc. So, expect a few more after this one... Highlights include the broadcast premieres of documentaries we've been following on this blog, including American Promise, Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth and Spies of Mississippi. These are films that I know most of us haven't seen, so this makes all 3 of them available to much of the country. Arlington, Va - January 16, 2014 - In commemoration of Black History Month and as part of its year-round commitment to provide...
- 1/17/2014
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Belle
The 2014 Athena Film Festival has unveiled its lineup of narrative, documentary and short films.
The New York Premiere of Belle, starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw and directed by Amma Asante, is the Athena Film Festival’s Opening Film, screening on Thursday evening. Decoding Annie Parker, starring Helen Hunt and Samantha Morton and directed by Steven Bernstein, is the festival’s Centerpiece Film, and will be screened on Friday evening. Geraldine Ferraro: Paving The Way, directed by her daughter, Donna Zaccaro, is the festival’s Closing Film, screening on Sunday evening.
The festival honors extraordinary women in the film industry and showcases films that address women’s leadership in real life and the fictional world. Now in its fourth year, the festival runs from Thursday, February 6 through Sunday, February 9 on the Barnard College campus in Morningside Heights. Artemis Rising Foundation is the Founding Sponsor of the Festival.
The Book Thief
Among...
The 2014 Athena Film Festival has unveiled its lineup of narrative, documentary and short films.
The New York Premiere of Belle, starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw and directed by Amma Asante, is the Athena Film Festival’s Opening Film, screening on Thursday evening. Decoding Annie Parker, starring Helen Hunt and Samantha Morton and directed by Steven Bernstein, is the festival’s Centerpiece Film, and will be screened on Friday evening. Geraldine Ferraro: Paving The Way, directed by her daughter, Donna Zaccaro, is the festival’s Closing Film, screening on Sunday evening.
The festival honors extraordinary women in the film industry and showcases films that address women’s leadership in real life and the fictional world. Now in its fourth year, the festival runs from Thursday, February 6 through Sunday, February 9 on the Barnard College campus in Morningside Heights. Artemis Rising Foundation is the Founding Sponsor of the Festival.
The Book Thief
Among...
- 1/7/2014
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Editor's Note: It screens tonight at 8pm in New York, at a African Diaspora International Film Festival (Adiff) gala event, which includes a Q&A with the filmmaker and a catered reception. Tickets can be pre-purchased Here. Here's our review: “Part of the problem with Western feminists, I find, is that they take after their brothers and their fathers. And that’s a real problem.” – Alice WalkerUnabashed and unadulterated. This was Alice Walker; poised, decisively concise and fielding audience questions at the world premier of ‘Alice Walker: Beauty In Truth’ at London’s ‘Women Of the World’ Festival 2013.The muted gasp that coursed through the packed...
- 12/7/2013
- by Jana Sante
- ShadowAndAct
I was happy to be invited for the second year to serve on the jury for narrative features with Dan Mirvisch, indie filmmaker and founder of Slamdance, Dana Harris, editor in chief of Indiewire, Morrie Warchawski, author of Shaking the Money Tree and former Executive Director of the Bay Area Video Coalition and The Media Project. We had a spirited discussion about the films we saw, drank a lot of great wine at marvelous receptions and had a superb dinner in the dining room of the Black Stallion Winery which is on the former site of the famous Napa Valley Equestrian Center and has been owned by three generations of the Indelicato family. Chef Misty Phelps prepared a wonderful meal which we shared with invited guests, Hollywood Foreign Press members Patricial Danaher from Ireland and Dierk Sindermann who was on the doc jury and is a correspondent for 10 European publications. It was the second great dinner I had with Hfp folks, the previous one being at Spago after the screening of Japan's Like Father Like Son. These Hollywood Foreign Press people live a nice life because they love films so much! Their love of film is proven because the small indies, foreign language and doc films are not what their employers pay them to see or review. Their love of film brings them to see these films in addition to the star studded blockbusters. I digress because I am beginning to love the Hfp members, sharing dinners as we do, there are always interesting conversations as well. Other filmmakers and jury members were served equally special dinners at the Alpha Omega and Chappellet Reserve, Beaulieu Vineyards, Bello Family Vineyards and Cardinale. Films, food and wine truly served as catalysts for conversation.
We awarded The Best Narrative Feature Prize to Hank and Asha (www.hankandasha.com) directed by James E. Duff. It had previously won the Audience Award at Slamdance and won at Portland, Brooklyn, Rhode Island and Woods Hole Film Festivals. It was a beautifully shot near-romance of an Indian film student in Prague who connects via webcam with a New York based filmmaker whose film she admired when she was the the Prague Film Festival. Their intercultural exchange leads to a love and affection which is never culminated by a meeting.
The Audience Favorite for Documentary Feature went to Finding Hillywood (www.findinghillywood.com) directed by Christopher Towey and Leah Warshawski (the daughter of our own jury member, Morrie Warchawski). This film has played in numerous festivals and garnered many awards and much attention as it shows the fledgling Rwandan filmmaking community.
Here are the other awards!
Juried Awards
Best Narrative Feature: Hank and Asha directed by James E. Duff
Best Feature Documentary: Alice Walker: Beauty In Truth directed by Pratibha Parmar
Best Short Documentary: Sky Burial directed by Tad Fettig
Best Animated Short: Sleight of Hand directed by Michael Cusack
> Honorable Mention: The Right Place directed by Jamie Gallant
> Honorable Mention: Horsepower directed by Olivia Lai Shetler
Best Narrative Short: King of Norway directed by Sylvia Sether
> Honorable Mention: The Romantics directed by Ryan Daniel Dobson
> Honorable Mention: The Listing Agent directed by Matthew Helfgott & Jared Hillman
Special Jury Prize for Most Thought Provoking Film: The Last White Knight directed by Paul Saltzman
Audience Awards
Favorite Narrative Feature : The Little Tin Man directed by Matthew Perkins
Favorite Actor : Andrew Pastides, Hank & Asha
Favorite Actress : Mahira Kakkar, Hank & Asha
Favorite Documentary Feature : Finding Hillywood directed by Christopher Towey and Leah Warshawski
Favorite Documentary Short : Make Haste Slowly: The Kikkoman Story directed by Lucy Walker
Favorite Narrative Short : The Listing Agent directed by Mathew Helfgott and Jared Hillman
Favorite Animated Short : Horsepower directed by Olivia Lai Shetler
Favorite Lounge Feature : Starring Adam West directed by James Tooley
Favorite Lounge Short : The Romantics directed by Ryan Daniel Dobson
Next year's Napa Valley Film Festival will take place on 12-16 November 2014. To buy passes visit Here...
We awarded The Best Narrative Feature Prize to Hank and Asha (www.hankandasha.com) directed by James E. Duff. It had previously won the Audience Award at Slamdance and won at Portland, Brooklyn, Rhode Island and Woods Hole Film Festivals. It was a beautifully shot near-romance of an Indian film student in Prague who connects via webcam with a New York based filmmaker whose film she admired when she was the the Prague Film Festival. Their intercultural exchange leads to a love and affection which is never culminated by a meeting.
The Audience Favorite for Documentary Feature went to Finding Hillywood (www.findinghillywood.com) directed by Christopher Towey and Leah Warshawski (the daughter of our own jury member, Morrie Warchawski). This film has played in numerous festivals and garnered many awards and much attention as it shows the fledgling Rwandan filmmaking community.
Here are the other awards!
Juried Awards
Best Narrative Feature: Hank and Asha directed by James E. Duff
Best Feature Documentary: Alice Walker: Beauty In Truth directed by Pratibha Parmar
Best Short Documentary: Sky Burial directed by Tad Fettig
Best Animated Short: Sleight of Hand directed by Michael Cusack
> Honorable Mention: The Right Place directed by Jamie Gallant
> Honorable Mention: Horsepower directed by Olivia Lai Shetler
Best Narrative Short: King of Norway directed by Sylvia Sether
> Honorable Mention: The Romantics directed by Ryan Daniel Dobson
> Honorable Mention: The Listing Agent directed by Matthew Helfgott & Jared Hillman
Special Jury Prize for Most Thought Provoking Film: The Last White Knight directed by Paul Saltzman
Audience Awards
Favorite Narrative Feature : The Little Tin Man directed by Matthew Perkins
Favorite Actor : Andrew Pastides, Hank & Asha
Favorite Actress : Mahira Kakkar, Hank & Asha
Favorite Documentary Feature : Finding Hillywood directed by Christopher Towey and Leah Warshawski
Favorite Documentary Short : Make Haste Slowly: The Kikkoman Story directed by Lucy Walker
Favorite Narrative Short : The Listing Agent directed by Mathew Helfgott and Jared Hillman
Favorite Animated Short : Horsepower directed by Olivia Lai Shetler
Favorite Lounge Feature : Starring Adam West directed by James Tooley
Favorite Lounge Short : The Romantics directed by Ryan Daniel Dobson
Next year's Napa Valley Film Festival will take place on 12-16 November 2014. To buy passes visit Here...
- 11/26/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
A screening update on a project we've been following for about 2 years now since its Indiegogo campaign was posted here - award-winning British filmmaker, Pratibha Parmar's documentary feature film about writer and activist Alice Walker, titled Alice Walker: Beauty In Truth, will be a Gala screening at the 2013 installment of the African Diaspora International Film Festival (Adiff) in NYC, which runs from November 29 to December 15, presented by ArtMattan Productions. The film, which includes contributions from Danny Glover and Steven Spielberg, among others, was in the making for some 5 years with a rough cut completed after the...
- 10/29/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Atlanta – Producers of the 2013 BronzeLens Film Festival will celebrate the life and legacy of Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize recipient and significant author of the 20th century, through its screening of the award winning documentary, Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth. The screening will take place on Wednesday, November 6, 2013, 6:00 Pm at Georgia Tech’s Ferst Center located at 349 Ferst. Both Alice Walker and director, Pratibha Parmar will participate in a post screening Talkback, moderated by Valerie Boyd, author of Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neal Hurston and the editor of Gathering...
- 10/22/2013
- by Natasha Greeves
- ShadowAndAct
Exclusive: Eva Sorhaug, Sharon Horgan and Pratibha Parmar to direct for new UK production outfit.
Fledgling London-based production company Salon Pictures has announced three new female directors for its projects. Salon founders Nick Taussig and Paul Van Carter will produce all three films.
Norwegian director Eva Sørhaug (90 Minutes) will adapt the script and direct Lenny, a biopic of bareknuckle fighter Lenny McLean. Originally set up by Taussig and Van Carter at Revolver, Salon has now acquired the underlying book rights.
Actor/writer/director Sharon Horgan, known for UK TV shows like Pulling, is attached to direct feature Meet Me in Ten Years, written by Student Oscar-winner Frances Poletti.
Finally, Pratibha Parmar will direct Intercourse, a theatrical documentary about the life and work of radical feminist writer and activist Andrea Dworkin. A number of actresses will portray Dworkin in the project. Parmar’s credits include Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth.
Fledgling London-based production company Salon Pictures has announced three new female directors for its projects. Salon founders Nick Taussig and Paul Van Carter will produce all three films.
Norwegian director Eva Sørhaug (90 Minutes) will adapt the script and direct Lenny, a biopic of bareknuckle fighter Lenny McLean. Originally set up by Taussig and Van Carter at Revolver, Salon has now acquired the underlying book rights.
Actor/writer/director Sharon Horgan, known for UK TV shows like Pulling, is attached to direct feature Meet Me in Ten Years, written by Student Oscar-winner Frances Poletti.
Finally, Pratibha Parmar will direct Intercourse, a theatrical documentary about the life and work of radical feminist writer and activist Andrea Dworkin. A number of actresses will portray Dworkin in the project. Parmar’s credits include Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth.
- 9/9/2013
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Tags: Alice WalkerBeauty in TruthPratibha Parmarmoviesmovie interviewswomen of colorIMDbactivism
The Color Purple, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about black communities and interpersonal relations between men and women of color in the South, catapulted Alice Walker to fame as a writer. But beyond this work (actually her tenth novel) many of us do not know the complexity and richness of her life, not only as a writer but as a global activist.
True to her artistic career, filmmaker Pratibha Parmar is continuing her efforts to make history through her latest film, Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth, which premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival on May 31. In this inspiring and informative documentary, Parmar tells the story of Alice Walker, from poverty-stricken child of the unbearably racist South to acclaimed writer and activist. Through a blend of archival footage that recreates the political and social contexts of Walker’s life from the mid...
The Color Purple, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about black communities and interpersonal relations between men and women of color in the South, catapulted Alice Walker to fame as a writer. But beyond this work (actually her tenth novel) many of us do not know the complexity and richness of her life, not only as a writer but as a global activist.
True to her artistic career, filmmaker Pratibha Parmar is continuing her efforts to make history through her latest film, Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth, which premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival on May 31. In this inspiring and informative documentary, Parmar tells the story of Alice Walker, from poverty-stricken child of the unbearably racist South to acclaimed writer and activist. Through a blend of archival footage that recreates the political and social contexts of Walker’s life from the mid...
- 6/21/2013
- by MBHauteWriter
- AfterEllen.com
“Part of the problem with Western feminists, I find, is that they take after their brothers and their fathers. And that’s a real problem.” – Alice WalkerUnabashed and unadulterated. This was Alice Walker; poised, decisively concise and fielding audience questions at the world premier of ‘Alice Walker: Beauty In Truth’ at London’s ‘Women Of the World’ Festival 2013.The muted gasp that coursed through the packed auditorium that evening as Alice Walker; revered Muse of the American feminist movement, offered her unflinching take on the inconsistencies of ‘Western feminists’ reverberates bold and clear throughout director Pratibha Parmar’s feature length documentary on the life of one Alice...
- 3/18/2013
- by Jana Sante
- ShadowAndAct
Updates on a project we've been following for about 2 years now since its IndieGoGo campaign was posted here... award-winning British filmmaker, Pratibha Parmar's documentary feature film by about writer and activist Alice Walker, titled Alice Walker: Beauty In Truth. The film, which includes contributions from Danny Glover and Steven Spielberg, among others, has been in the making for some 5 years with a rough cut completed after the filmmaker was able to raise a whopping $55,000 via IndieGoGo in 2011. Skip ahead to this week, when I was informed by UK-based reader & journalist EC Forde that the completed film made its world premier on...
- 3/13/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
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