The always wonderful Open Roads New Italian Cinema opens this week and you need to get some tickets and go.
One of the best festivals every year it is a thrilling collection of some of the best films you'll see all year. I love this fest and I always try to see everything because the fest just brings great films.
I've seen a few films and I'm planning on going to see more so check back
For tickets and more information go here.
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Starting this week is the always wonderful Brooklyn Film Festival.
One of the best festivals in New York it always has a great selection of films that will hang with you all year. Every year I’ve covered it I’ve always found some great films. I’ve also run into filmmakers with whom I have stayed in contact.
I absolutely love this festival and always make an effort to try and cover it in some form.
This year because of life and it’s crossing across another festival, which shall remain nameless, my coverage is only going to be a couple of films. That’s okay, they are great films.
If you have time I suggest you make the trip to Screenings at Windmill Studios and Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn to see some films.
IF YOU CAN’T GET TO BROOKLYN-THE FESTIVAL IS VIRTUAL
In an age when many fests seem to pulling back from having a virtual element Brooklyn is still using it to spread the word on great films.
Buy some tickets and take some rides. Trust me it will delight you
Details on how to get impersonal tickets of a virtual tickets can be found here.
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Lynne Sachs: From the Outside In Retrospective June 7 – 11
2024 marks 40 years since experimental filmmaker Lynne Sachs took her first video class at DCTV. In From the Outside In, we traverse Sachs’ documentary films, defiant of traditional genre or style. From peering out, collecting others’ experiences and world events, to looking inward, reflecting on familial histories and entanglements, Sachs weaves the political with the personal. Through this 7 program series of screenings and discussions, with Sachs and collaborators in front of and behind the camera, this retrospective celebrates Sachs' distinctive artistry and groundbreaking career.
Featuring: 24 films; an artist talk and workshop with Lynne Sachs; and daily Q&As with special guests including Tom Day, Sam Green, Tabitha Jackson, Naeem Mohaiemen, Lizzie Olesker, Ira Sachs, and Accra Shepp.
Individual tickets are now on sale, as well as a series pass, which grants access to all screenings and includes a special print monograph.
For tickets and more information go here.
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The Academy Award® and Emmy winning husband and wife team of Freida Lee Mock and Terry Sanders, along with their daughters Jessica and Brittany Sanders, who have produced and released nearly 50 films spanning decades of filmmaking through their non-profit company American Film Foundation, announce that their film collection is for the first time available worldwide on Vimeo on Demand to buy or rent. Their films and/or series have received three Oscars, 10 Oscar nominations, Primetime Emmys and Emmy nominations and numerous other awards.
Some highlights from the collection are:
ANITA: SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER
Dir. Freida Lee Mock, 2013, 76 min.
The story of Anita Hill who responded to questions about sexual harassment by Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas in a contentious Senate Hearing exposing the issue to the world.
BIRD BY BIRD WITH ANNIE
Dir. Freida Lee Mock, 1999, 54 min.
A portrait of the best-selling author and laugh out-loud funny humorist Anne Lamott (Somehow, Bird by Bird, Traveling Mercies, Operating Instructions, Crooked Little Heart) it is the inspiring story of a survivor — a recovering alcoholic, single mother, born-again Christian and liberal activist. UPDATE: Lamott’s newest book Somehow is currently on The New York Times Best Seller List, debuting at # 1.
G-DOG
Dir. Freida Lee Mock, 2012, 92 min.
G-DOG tells the entertaining, hilarious and unlikely story of how a white Jesuit priest became an expert on gang lives through Homeboy Industries, the largest and most successful gang intervention and rehab program in the world. Father Greg Boyle (G-Dog to homies) works by a powerful idea: Nothing stops a bullet like a job. His unstoppable compassion has transformed the lives of thousands of Latino, Asian, and African American gang members. UPDATE: On May 4, 2024, Father Greg Boyle received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden.
LILLIAN GISH: THE ACTOR’S LIFE FOR ME
Dir. Terry Sanders, 1989, 56 min.
Called the first lady of the silent screen, Lillian Gish was the archetypal silent film heroine — the delicate damsel in distress, stranded on a swift-moving ice floe, cowering before a sadistic brute. The film showcases generous footage of her most memorable performances. In this Emmy-award winning documentary, the celebrated actress reflects on her life and work spanning the 20th century, particularly her years as D.W. Griffith's favorite leading lady and collaborator.
MAYA LIN: A STRONG CLEAR VISION
Dir. Freida Lee Mock, 1994, 98 min.
Oscar Winner - Best Documentary Feature
The Academy Award®-winning documentary about sculptor and architect Maya Lin who, at age 21, designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. tells the gripping story behind the Vietnam Memorial and explores a decade of her creative work. Maya Lin's design of the Civil Rights Memorial, the Yale Women's Table, and the Juniata Peace Chapel reveals her ability to address major issues of our times through the healing power of art. UPDATE: Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision was selected for the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry in 2023 and Maya Lin received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2016. Her newest design is the entry sculpture for the Obama Presidential Library).
NEVER GIVE UP: THE 20TH CENTURY ODYSSEY OF HERBERT ZIPPER
Dir. Terry Sanders, 1996, 40 min.
The extraordinary story of Vienna born musician and conductor Herbert Zipper who survived Dachau, Buchenwald, and a Japanese concentration camp to become one of the great music educators of the world, continuing at 92 to bring music to the inner city schools of America. Academy Award® Nomination, Best Documentary Short Film
RETURN WITH HONOR
Dir. Freida Lee Mock & Terry Sanders, 1998, 102 min.
Presented by Tom Hanks, Return with Honor tells the gripping story of American fighter pilots shot down over North Vietnam and surviving with honor as POWs for up to eight and a half years. The film includes astounding, never-before-seen footage from the archives of Vietnam and contains riveting first person accounts of the hidden war behind prison walls. It is an inspiring testament to faith, brotherhood and the resilience of the human spirit.
ROSE FITZGERALD KENNEDY: A LIFE TO REMEMBER
Dir. Terry Sanders, 1990, 18 min.
An Oscar nominee, this documentary is a moving portrait chronicling the life, the times, the joys and sorrows of Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. The film honors her work in the field of mental retardation.
SING!,
Dir. Freida Lee Mock, 2001, 36 min.
Oscar nominated for Best Documentary Short about the world-renowned Chorus where Billie Eilish and Finneas learned to sing, the film asks how do squeaky-voiced 8 year olds become amazing singers? SING!, about the Los Angeles Children's Chorus, tells the story of how a community group, amid severe cutbacks in the arts, is able to develop a children's chorus that is one of the best in the country.
A TIME OUT OF WAR
Dir. Denis Sanders with Photography by Terry Sanders, 1954, 22 min.
The 1955 Oscar Winner for Best Short Subject, the film portrays a dramatic incident from the American Civil War when two Union soldiers and a Confederate soldier, facing each other across a river agree on an hour's truce.
WRESTLING WITH ANGELS: PLAYWRIGHT TONY KUSHNER
Dir. Freida Lee Mock, 2006, 98 min.
In the film, Tony Kushner (Playwright of Angels in America) takes us from his childhood home in small-town Louisiana to his development as a writer, politically active gay man, and endlessly quotable globe-trotting force for a more literate and compassionate universe. Featuring Meryl Streep, Marcia Gay Harden, Tonya Pinkins, Maurice Sendak, George C. Wolfe, Oskar Eustis, Frank Rich and others.
Sanders’ feature dramatic films have introduced actors in their first film roles including: George Hamilton (Crime and Punishment USA, 1959), Robert Redford (War Hunt, 1962) and Mikey Madison (Liza, Liza, Skies Are Grey, 2017). Madison next stars in Sean Baker's new film, Anora, being released by Neon next month. The film is in competition in the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
A full list of the American Film Foundation collection can be found on Vimeo on Demand.
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