Austin, Texas — The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival announced the official titles for their new program “SXSW Presents Fantastic Fest at Midnight,” kicking off with the International Film Festival Premiere of Ong Bak 2, the most anticipated new action film of the year. Six films from six countries comprise the lineup, featuring four international premieres, one North American premiere and one U.S. Premiere. From horror to action, to comedy and suspense, these six films collectively represent the spectrum of genre films featured in Austin’s annual Fantastic Fest. All films will play at midnight at the SXSW Film Festival at the Alamo South Lamar, in addition to the traditional SXSW Midnighters section, which will take place at the Alamo Ritz. The program will feature:

Ong Bak 2 (Thailand)
Director: Tony Jaa.  Writer: Panna Rittikrai
Martial-arts superstar Tony Jaa is back in an epic prequel to the 2003 action smash Ong Bak. Cast: Tony Jaa, Sorapong Chatree, Sarunyu Wongkrachang, Nirut Sirichanya, Santisuk Promsiri, Primorata Dejudom (International Film Festival Premiere)

Black (France)
Director: Pierre Laffargue.  Writer: Pierre Laffargue, Lucio Mad and Gábor Rassov
A nouveau-blacksploitation adventure awash in black magic, African Mysticism, mutant arms dealers, gargantuan machete-wielding mercenary armies and a truckload of knuckle-sandwiches.  Cast: MC Jean Gab’1, Carole Karemera, François Levantal, Anton Yakovlev (World Premiere)

The Haunting in Connecticut (U.S.)
Director: Peter Cornwell.  Writer: Adam Simon and Tim Metcalfe
In the tradition of such real-life horror movies as The Exorcist and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Haunting in Connecticut tells the astounding true story of one family’s supernatural ordeal.  Cast: Amanda Crew, Elias Koteas, Virginia Madsen, Kyle Gallner, Martin Donovan (International Film Festival Premiere)

The Horseman (Australia)
Director/Writer: Steve Kastrissios
When, Christian Forteski’s (Peter Marshall) drug addicted daughter dies after appearing in an amateur Porn Video, he deals with his grief by burning, kicking, smashing and stabbing his way through those responsible.  Cast: Peter Marshall, Caroline Marohasy, Brad McMurray, Jack Henry, Evert McQueen (North American Premiere)

Lesbian Vampire Killers (UK)
Director: Phil Claydon. Writer: Paul Hupfield and Stewart Williams
Matthew Horne and James Corden, the comedy duo behind the award-winning BBC comedy series Gavin and Stacey, are two hapless losers whose idyllic country holiday is shattered by the arrival of an army of thirsty lesbian vampires. Cast: Paul McGann, James Corden, Mathew Horne, MyAnna Buring, Silvia Colloca (World Premiere)

Pontypool (Canada)
Director: Bruce McDonald.  Writer: Tony Burgess
A seemingly ordinary day’s work at the radio station for Grant Mazzy (Stephen McHattie) turns sinister when calls begin to flood the station about violent outbreaks in and around Pontypool. Cast: Stephen McHattie, Lisa Houle, Georgina Reilly, Hrant Alianak, Rick Roberts (U.S. Premiere)

The SXSW Film Festival (March 13 – 21 in Austin, TX) will open on March 13th with a screening of I Love You, Man, directed by John Hamburg and starring Paul Rudd, Jason Segel and Rashida Jones. The complete lineup and schedule can be found here. SXSW will also host over 60 Film Conference panels, which will take place Friday, March 13 – Tuesday, March 17. For full panel descriptions and participants click here. Check out http://www.sxsw.com/film often for more information and updates, and for more information about Fantastic Fest (September 24 – October 1) visit www.fantasticfest.com.

South By Southwest Film Conference & Festival
SXSW offers a uniquely creative space for filmmakers, film fans, and even cinephiles to partake in the big and small picture discussions about filmmaking today. The Conference hosts a five-day adventure in the latest filmmaking trends and new technology, featuring Conversations with film icons, intimate mini-meetings and one-on-one mentor sessions with industry veterans. The internationally-acclaimed, nine-day Festival boasts some of the most wide-ranging programming of any US event of its kind, from provocative documentaries to subversive Hollywood comedies, with a special focus on emerging talents.

2009 Festival Sponsors
SXSW Film Conference and Festival is sponsored by Miller Lite, Fuze Beverage, ZonePerfect, The Independent Film Channel (IFC), Sierra Mist and The Austin Chronicle.

Berlin, Germany — Recently coming to a close this last saturday the 14th, the 59th Belinale International Film Festival announced the winners of this years film competition. To find out more information about this year’s juries and awards, check out the offical Berlinale website. Congratulations to all the winners and we hope to see more of you on the US festival circuit as well!

Below is the listing of the awarding winners.

PRIZES OF THE INTERNATIONAL JURY

GOLDEN BEAR FOR THE BEST FILM
La teta asustada
The Milk Of Sorrow
by Claudia Llosa

THE JURY GRAND PRIX - SILVER BEAR 
Alle Anderen
Everyone else
by Maren Ade

ex aequo
Gigante
by Adrián Biniez

SILVER BEAR FOR BEST DIRECTOR
Asghar Farhadi for
Darbareye Elly (About Elly)

SILVER BEAR FOR BEST ACTRESS
Birgit Minichmayr in
Alle Anderen (Everyone else)
by Maren Ade

SILVER BEAR FOR BEST ACTOR
Sotigui Kouyate in
London River
by Rachid Bouchareb

SILVER BEAR FOR AN OUTSTANDING ARTISTIC CONTRIBUTION
Gábor Erdély and Tamás Székely for the Sound-Design of
Katalin Varga
by Peter Strickland

SILVER BEAR FOR THE BEST SCRIPT
Oren Moverman and Alessandro Camon for
The Messenger
by Oren Moverman

ALFRED BAUER PRIZE, awarded in memory of the Festival founder, for a work of particular innovation

Gigante
by Adrián Biniez

ex aequo
Tatarak
Sweet Rush
by Andrzej Wajda

BEST FIRST FEATURE JURY

BEST FIRST FEATURE AWARD, endowed with 50.000 Euros founded by GWFF
Gigante
by Adrián Biniez

SPECIAL MENTION
Flickan
The Girl
by Fredrik Edfeldt

PRIZES OF THE INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM JURY

GOLDEN BEAR
Please Say Something
von David OReilly

THE JURY PRIZE - SILVER BEAR
Jade
by Daniel Elliott

BERLINALE SHORT FILM NOMINEE FOR THE EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2009
Die Leiden des Herrn Karpf. Der Geburtstag (The Suffering of Mr. Karpf. The Birthday)
by Lola Randl

DAAD SHORT FILM AWARD
The Illusion
by Susana Barriga

SPECIAL MENTION
VU
by Leila Albayaty

SPECIAL MENTION
contre - jour
by Christoph Girardet und Matthias Müller

PRIZES OF THE JURIES GENERATION

Children’s Jury Generation Kplus

CRYSTAL BEAR FOR BEST FEATURE FILM
C’est pas moi, je le jure!
It’s Not Me, I Swear!
by Philippe Falardeau

SPECIAL MENTION
Max Pinlig
Max Embarrassing
by Lotte Svendsen

CRYSTAL BEAR FOR BEST SHORT FILM
Ulybka Buddy
Buddha’s smile
by Bair Dyshenov

SPECIAL MENTION
Oh, My God!
by Anne Sewitsky

Youth Jury Generation 14plus

CRYSTAL BEAR FOR BEST FEATURE FILM
My Suicide
by David Lee Miller

SPECIAL MENTION
Mary and Max
by Adam Elliot

CRYSTAL BEAR FOR BEST SHORT FILM
Aphrodite’s Farm
by Adam Strange

SPECIAL MENTION
Slavar
Slaves
by David Aronowitsch and Hanna Heilborn

International Jury Generation Kplus

THE GRAND PRIX OF THE DEUTSCHES KINDERHILFSWERK FOR BEST FEATURE FILM
C’est pas moi, je le jure!
It’s Not Me, I Swear!
by Philippe Falardeau

SPECIAL MENTION
Flickan
The Girl
by Fredrik Edfeldt

THE SPECIAL PRIZE OF THE DEUTSCHES KINDERHILFSWERK FOR BEST SHORT FILM
Oh, My God!
by Anne Sewitsky

SPECIAL MENTION
Jerrycan
by Julius Avery
INDEPENDENT JURIES

PRIZES OF THE ECUMENICAL JURY
Competition — Lille Soldat (Little Soldier), by  Annette K. Olesen
Special Mention — London River, by  Rachid Bouchareb
Special Mention — My One And Only, by  Richard Loncraine
Panorama — Welcome, by Philippe Lioret
Forum — Treeless Mountain, by So Yong Kim

FIPRESCI PRIZES
Competition — La teta asustada (The Milk Of Sorrow), by Claudia Llosa
Panorama — Nord (North), by Rune Denstad Langlo
Forum — Ai no mukidashi (Love Exposure), by Sono Sion

PRIZE OF THE GUILD OF GERMAN ART HOUSE CINEMAS
Storm, by Hans-Christian Schmid

C.I.C.A.E. PRIZE
Panorama — Ander, by Roberto Castón
Forum — Cea mai fericita fata din lume (The Happiest Girl in the World),
by Radu Jude

LABEL EUROPA CINEMAS
Nord (North), by Rune Denstad Langlo

ex aequo
Welcome, by Philippe Lioret

TEDDY AWARDS
Feature film — Rabioso sol, rabioso cielo (Raging Sun, Raging Sky),
by Julián Hernández
Best Essay — Fig Trees, by John Greyson
Short film — A Horse Is Not A Metaphor, by Barbara Hammer

DIALOGUE EN PERSPECTIVE, endowed by TV5MONDE
Gitti, by Anna Deutsch

SPECIAL MENTION
Polar, by Michael Koch

ACTORS AWARD
Franziska Petri
in Für Miriam (For Miriam) by Lars-Gunnar Lotz

Jacob Matschenz
In Fliegen (Fly ) by Piotr J. Lewandowski

CALIGARI FILM PRIZE
Ai no mukidashi (Love Exposure), by Sono Sion

NETPAC-PRIZE
Ma dai fu de zhen suo
Doctor Ma’s Country Clinic, by Cong Feng

ex aequo

Eoddeon gaien nal
The Day After
by Lee Suk-Gyung

PEACE FILM AWARD
The Messenger, by Oren Moverman

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL FILM PRIZE
Storm, by Hans-Christian Schmid

FEMINA FILM PRIZE
Silke Fischer
for the production design in Alle Anderen (Everyone else), by Maren Ade

READERS’ JURIES AND AUDIENCE AWARD

PANORAMA AUDIENCE AWARD
The Yes Men Fix The World, by Mike Bonanno, Andy Bichlbaum, Kurt Engfehr

TAGESSPIEGEL READERS’ PRIZE
Hayat var (My Only Sunshine), by Reha Erdem

BERLINER MORGENPOST READERS’ PRIZE
Storm, by Hans-Christian Schmid

SIEGESSÄULE READERS’ AWARD
City Of Borders, by Yun Suh

PRIZE OF THE BERLINALE TALENT CAMPUS

VOLKSWAGEN SCORE COMPETITION
Atanas Valkov (Poland)

BERLIN TODAY AWARD
Supriyo Sen (India) for
Wagah

SPECIAL MENTION
Gina Abatemarco (USA) for
My Super Sea Wall

New York, NY — The 25 feature films that will make up New Directors/New Films 2009 were announced today by Rajendra Roy, chief curator of film at The Museum of Modern Art and Richard Peña, program director at The Film Society of Lincoln Center. Representing 20 countries, the titles in the 39th edition of this celebrated program dedicated to the discovery and support of emerging directors will screen in their New York premieres or, in some cases, their United States and world premieres. Many filmmakers and special guests will appear on stage at series screenings, held at MoMA and The Film Society of Lincoln Center, March 25 – April 5.

New York-based director Cherien Dabis’s debut feature “Amreeka” will be honored as the 2009 Opening Night selection. The humanist and humorous drama stars Haifa-trained actress Nisreen Faour and Hiam Abbas (“The Visitor,” “Lemon Tree”) in the story of Muna, a single mother from Ramallah, and Fadi, her teenage son, who move to Middle America just as U.S. troops enter Baghdad. Their bittersweet adjustment to a multicultural way of life provides a revelatory vision of a mother-son relationship set against the strange behavior of those “ordinary people” who treat them as outsiders.

Lee Daniels’s Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize-winner “Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire” will also be showcased as the series’s first-ever Closing Night feature. The much-discussed drama chronicles the world of Precious Jones, an overweight, functionally illiterate, lonesome teenager pregnant with a second child by her own father. Daniels, working with a script by Damien Paul and an extraordinary cast led by Gabourey Sidibe and including Mo’Nique, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz, and Paula Patton, creates a vibrant, engaging story of imposing character and unlikely survival.

Other features of the 2009 festival slate include the world premiere of Bob Byington’s slacker ex-love story “Harmony and Me” and the U.S. premiere of Adam Del Deo and James D. Stern’s inside look at the Broadway revival of “A Chorus Line,” “Every Little Step.” First-time feature director Sophie Barthes gathers a remarkable cast— including Paul Giamatti, Emily Watson, and David Strathairn—in her existential comedy thriller “Cold Souls.”

The series will offer New Yorkers an exclusive first chance to see 2009 Sundance favorites including National Geographic photographer Louie Psihoyos’s “The Cove;” Sterlin Harjo “Barking Water;” Gustave de Kervern and Benoît Deléphin’s “Louise-Michel;” Sebastián Silva’s “The Maid;” Laurel Nakadate’s “Stay the Same Never Change;” Alexis Dos Santos’s “Unmade Beds;” and Ondi Timoner’s “We Live in Public,” an insightful and resourceful documentary exploration of Internet pioneer Josh Harris’s raise and fall within the art and technology whirlwind of 1990s Manhattan. Venice Film Festival prizewinners “Mid-August Lunch” by Gianni Di Gregorio and “Paper Soldier” by Aleksei German Jr. are also among the many stellar new features highlighted in the slate.

Dedicated to the discovery and support of emerging artists, New Directors/New Films has earned an international reputation as the premier festival for works that break or re-cast the cinematic mold.

The series is presented by The Museum of Modern Art and The Film Society of Lincoln Center and supported by The Junior Associates of The Museum of Modern Art and The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Young Friends of Film.

The work of The Film Society of Lincoln Center is made possible by the generous support of the Irene Diamond Fund, 42 Below, Stella Artois®, Illy, and public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.

The Museum of Modern Art’s film programs are made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

The complete public schedule for New Directors/New Films 2009 will be announced in early March. Tickets will go on sale Friday, March 13. They will be at The Film Society of Lincoln Center, MoMA, and online at filmlinc.com.

List of Feature Films

OPENING NIGHT
Amreeka
Cherien Dabis, USA/Canada/Kuwait, 2009; 96m
Cherien Dabis’s humanist miracle of a first film chronicles the bittersweet adjustment to a multicultural way of life after Muna, a single mother from Ramallah, and Fadi, her teenage son, move to Middle America.

CLOSING NIGHT
Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
Lee Daniels, USA, 2009; 109m
Destined to be one of the most hotly discussed films of the year, Push chronicles the world of Precious Jones, a seriously overweight, functionally illiterate, lonesome teenager pregnant with a second child by her own father. A Lionsgate release.

$9.99
Tatia Rosenthal, Israel/Australia, 2008; 78m
Can the mysteries of life really be known for “the low-price of $9.99”? This timely and compelling stop-motion animated feature explores urban dreams and dilemmas. A Regent Releasing release.

Autumn / Sonbahar
Özcan Alper, Germany/Turkey, 2008; 99m
A stunning elegy to lost youth and lost ideals set in the majestic mountains east of the Black Sea, Özcan Alper’s debut is a powerful harbinger for the emergence of a strong new wave in Turkish cinema.

Barking Water
Sterlin Harjo, USA, 2009; 85m
Sterlin Harjo’s wise second feature affectionately travels Oklahoma’s roads, stopping now and then to reveal itself as one of American cinema’s most moving love stories—adult and unsentimental—in a long time.

Birdwatchers / BirdWatchers – La terra degli uomini rossi
Marco Bechis, Italy/Brazil, 2008; 108m
The schism between the indigenous Guarani Indians and the wealthy Brazilian landowners who inhabit their ancestral land is brought to devastating life in this gripping, powerful docudrama. An IFC Films release.

Cold Souls
Sophie Barthes, USA/Russia, 2008; 101m
Screenwriter/director Sophie Barthes deftly balances fantasy and reality in her witty, metaphysical tale of a successful actor (the great Paul Giamatti playing himself) undergoing a psychic breakdown while rehearsing a production of “Uncle Vanya.” A Samuel Goldwyn release.

The Cove
Louie Psihoyos, USA, 2009; 90m
Award-winning National Geographic photographer Louis Psihoyos brings the environmental film to astounding new levels of drama and urgency in this exploration of Taiji, Japan, a village on the Pacific coast that is home to a longstanding whaling tradition and a deeply unsettling secret.

Every Little Step
Adam Del Deo and James D. Stern, USA, 2008; 96m
In this documentary about casting the 2006 revival of “A Chorus Line,” the lives of dancers auditioning for the new production mirror the stories of some of the original cast members, whose experiences were captured on tape by the musical’s creator, Michael Bennett. A Sony Pictures Classics release.

The Fly / Mukha
Vladimir Kott, Russia, 2008; 107m
In Vladimir Kott’s post-perestroika drama, a reluctant father and recalcitrant daughter try to out maneuver each other in a battle of wills that is as deadly as it is funny.

Give Me Your Hand / Donne-moi la main
Pascal-Alex Vincent, France/Germany, 2008; 79m
This visually sumptuous ode to brotherly love and loathing by first time feature director Pascal-Alex Vincent follows virtually indistinguishable twin brothers Alexandre and Victor Carril in a buoyant escapade that turns surprisingly dark and dangerous. A Strand Releasing release.

Harmony and Me
Bob Byington, USA, 2009; 75m
Bob Byington’s deadpan and hilarious slacker movie for the cell phone generation is straight out of that independent film capital, Austin, Texas, where a voluble young lyricist refuses to let go of the heartbreak caused when his girlfriend became his ex.

Home
Ursula Meier, Switzerland/France/Belgium, 2008; 95m
An ordinary middle class family lives an ordinary life in their ordinary house that sits next to an unused highway. With no neighbors or cars for miles, all it takes is the opening of the highway to change the family’s dynamic.

Louise-Michel
Gustave de Kervern and Benoît Delépine, France, 2008; 90m
When a group of women factory workers are blindsided by management’s relocation of the factory and are left with a pittance in severance pay, their very odd colleague Louise suggests they hire a hit man, the even odder Michel, to take care of business.

The Maid / La Nana
Sebastián Silva, Chile, 2009; 95m
This sharply etched portrait of an tightly wound domestic servant and her passive-aggressive relationship to her middle-class family is given tremendous force and tragicomic relief in the remarkable, prizewinning title performance by Catalina Saavedra.

Mid-August Lunch / Pranzo di ferragosto
Gianni Di Gregorio, Italy, 2008; 75m
Fifty-nine-year-old Gianni Di Gregorio (screenwriter of Gomorrah) stars in his utterly charming directorial debut as Giovanni, whose agreement to take in his landlord and best friend’s elderly mothers for a few days results in a wonderfully loose, improvisational award winner.

The Milk of Sorrow / La teta asustada
Claudia Llosa, Spain/Peru, 2008; 100m
The legacies of rape and terror in Peru extend to the children born of victims. This remarkable film floats between fable and visceral reality, confronting fear and healing wounds through the power of the human spirit.

Ordinary Boys / Chicos normales
Daniel Hernandez, Spain, 2008; 85m
In a small Moroccan village that was home to many of those responsible for the 2004 terrorist bombings in Spain, three young adults—an aspiring actor, a law student, and a small-time drug dealer—find themselves at a crossroads that will change the course of their lives.

Paper Soldier / Bumaznyj soldat
Aleksei German Jr., Russia, 2008; 118m
Aleksei German Jr. pays homage to classic Russian cinema, the plays of Anton Chekhov, and the liberal era of Khrushchev in an impressionistic story of a confused doctor working with the first cosmonauts of the Soviet space program.

Parque Vía
Enrique Rivero, Mexico, 2008; 86m
If the only home you’ve known is one you’ve lived in as a servant, what would you do if the master decides to sell? A gripping portrait of quiet loyalty and impending abandonment.

The Shaft / Dixia de tiankong
Zhang Chi, China, 2008; 98m
Newcomer Zhang Chi charts the profound changes in a tightly knit family over a critical year in three separate, inter-related, and pitch-perfect stories.

Stay the Same Never Change
Laurel Nakadate, USA, 2009; 93m
This audacious, slyly hilarious work dares to grapple with the terrifying complexities of tween-age girlhood.

Treeless Mountain
So Yong Kim, USA/South Korea, 2008; 89m
A gently told yet heart-wrenching tale of a young girl’s journey from abandonment to maturity. An Oscilloscope Pictures release.

Unmade Beds
Alexis Dos Santos, UK, 2008; 93m
Alexis Dos Santos returns to New Directors with his second feature, Unmade Beds, chronicling the adventures of free-spirited London expats sharing beds and true confessions on their way to defining themselves.

We Live in Public
Ondi Timoner, USA, 2008; 90m
Insurant, insightful, and authentic, Ondi Timoner’s Sundance winner is a boundlessly resourceful insider’s view of Internet pioneer Josh Harris’s rise and fall and the heady times in the art and technology Wild West of 1990s Manhattan.

Austin, Texas — The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival announced today a new partnership with Fantastic Fest which will manifest through a new lineup in the official film festival program: “SXSW Presents Fantastic Fest at Midnight.” Now in its 5th year, Alamo Drafthouse’s Fantastic Fest has quickly become one of the largest genre film festivals in the United States and has been dubbed “Geek Telluride” and “one of the 10 festivals we love” by Variety. “SXSW Presents Fantastic Fest at Midnight” is a representative sample of the young festival’s signature midnight genre programming, featuring six new premieres exclusive to SXSW.

“The Alamo Drafthouse has been an eleven-year partner of SXSW,” says Fantastic Fest director and Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League. “In fact, our very first show at the original Alamo Drafthouse location was opening night of SXSW 1997. We are proud to work so closely with such a respected institution, and in 2009 with ‘SXSW Presents Fantastic Fest at Midnight,’ we plan to deliver one of the best movie experiences of the year for genre film fans.”

“We couldn’t be more excited to enhance our Midnighters section with the infusion of six badass Fantastic Fest films,” says SXSW Film Conference and Festival Producer Janet Pierson. “The Fantastic Fest, in its short life, has really added a lot of energy and fun here in Austin, and the Alamo Drafthouse is already such a natural and significant partner to SXSW, so it was a no-brainer to invite them to preview their program with us.”

SXSW is also pleased to announce over 60 Film Conference panels, which will take place Friday, March 13 – Tuesday, March 17. New major panelists added to the SXSW Film Conference include Markos Moulitsas Zúniga (founder, DailyKos.com), Bob Berney (studio head), Jeffrey Tambor (Actor), Steven Hirsch (founder, Vivid Entertainment), Gary Hustwit (director, Helvetica) and Jonathan Coulton (Musician). Other upgrades to the 2009 conference include 30% more mentor sessions and mini-meetings available and 15 joint Film and Interactive panels open to both registrants. A sampling of key panels follows below, as well as the complete panel breakdown, by date and title.

• A Conversation with Bob Berney & John Pierson
With a roster of successes including Pan’s Labyrinth, Y Tú Mama Tambien, The Passion Of The Christ, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and a career stretching from early exhibition days at the Inwood Theater, Dallas, through IFC Films, to founder/president of Newmarket and Picturehouse, calling Bob Berney an indie distribution guru seems like an understatement. We are therefore delighted to announce that UT Film Clinical Professor John Pierson will be moderating a conversation with Berney as he discusses his career, the state of cinema, and the future of independent distribution in an increasingly diffuse media landscape.

• Crash the Server — How to Market your Movie by Achieving Webisode Awesomeness
Join Zak Knutson and Joey Figueroa of Chop Shop Entertainment, along with long time collaborator Ming Chen of View Askew Productions, for an interactive workshop on achieving massive media exposure through Internet webisodes. From big budget studio films, to low budget independent projects, film distributors have come to rely on the internet and the word of mouth it generates to showcase their products and to build world wide fan bases long before their films hit theatres. View examples of both failed and successful webisodes from past projects, discuss the process of creating a webisode that will deliver butts in seats for the all important opening weekend, and learn to take full advantage of the explosion of internet video distribution that creates new celebrities on a daily basis.

• Marketing Meets New Media: Building Your Audience Online
How are filmmakers, musicians, bloggers and artists building their brand online in today’s crowded New Media environment? Increasingly, it has become an artists’ own imperative to promote themselves, as distributors pay more attention to the bottom line and less to building the profile of the filmmaker. If you have to take matters into your own hands, what are the techniques for building and maintaining a loyal audience of fans online? What resources are at your disposal and how are social networking sites like Facebook organizing a new generation? Join moderator Scott Kirsner (Editor, CinemaTech / Author, “Fans, Friends and Followers”) and learn how to capitalize on big opportunities at the click of a mouse.

• The Incredible Shrinking (Expanding?) Film Critic Profession
Long-time print film critics are being laid off left and right in the current newspaper crisis. At the same time, thousands of people are weighing in on movies on the Internet. Is this the best time ever for criticism? Or is this the end of an era, with the most qualified and literate critics being fired and retired? And what does it all mean for independent and arthouse cinema? Professional reviewers from both Web and traditional print outlets will share their optimistic/pessimistic thoughts.

COMPLETE PANEL LINEUP:
(moderators listed in parentheses)

Friday, March 13
Get the Most out of SXSW Film (Agnes Varnum, Austin Film Society)

Saturday, March 14
IM Video Journalism (David Dunkley Gyimah, University of Westminster)
The State of Distribution: What You Need to Know (David Garber, Lantern Lane Entertainment)
Mentors: Managers/Agents
The Incredible Shrinking (Expanding?) Film Critic Profession (Gerald Peary, AG Films)
Mini-Meeting: Contracts & Unions
Mentors: Distributors
I Love You, Man: Case Study
Jeffrey Tambor Acting Workshop
Mini-Meeting: Editing
Mentors: Pre-Production
Alternative Publicity: Grabbin’ Eyeballs and Sparking Buzz (Jessica Edwards, Murphy PR)
Soapbox Spielbergs: Making Hollywood FX on Indie Budgets (Tim Shey, Next New Networks)
Comedy on Television and the Web (Ricky Van Veen, CollegeHumor.com)

Sunday, March 15
BMI Presents:  Film Music, the Bastard Child of Post Production (Doreen Ringer-Ross, BMI)
Working With the Guilds (Todd Amorde, Screen Actors Guild)
Mentors: Programmers
Branded Entertainment: Brands Driving Content (Jess Search, Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation)
Self-Distribution Not All by Yourself (Scott Macaulay, Forensic Films)
From Script to Screen (Sarah Green, Tree of Life)
Mini-Meeting: Soundtracks
Mentors: Filmmakers
Building Your Team
A Stanley Kubrick Panel with Jan Harlan (Elvis Mitchell, Critic)
A Conversation with Bob Berney & John Pierson
Mentors: Writers
INSIDE THE SUBMARINE: one viewpoint with Josh Braun, Submarine Entertainment
Marketing Meets New Media: Building Your Audience Online (Scott Kirsner, CinemaTech)
No Budget to Low Budget (Meghan Scibona, Small Media Extra Large)
We Have Been Objectified: Identity, Consumerism, and the Future of Designed Objects (Gary Hustwit, Objectified)

Monday, March 16
Alpha Cine Digital to 35mm Demo: Anything in - Film out
The Elevator Pitch (Robert Wilonsky, Village Voice Media)
Deciphering Funding (Ryan Harrington, IndiePix Studios)
Mentors: Entertainment Lawyers
The Future of the DVD and Digital Distribution (Scott Kirsner, CinemaTech)
Making the Perfect Trailer Workshop
Mini-Meeting: Casting/Directing Actors
Mentors: Publicity
Delivery: Avoiding Future Nightmares
Mentors: Distributors
Managing Your Expectations: Indie Film Realities (Chris Gore, Film Threat)
Mini-Meeting: Connecting to Audiences that Care:  Filmmakers, Distributors and Activists Can Work Together
A Conversation with Col Needham (Eugene Hernandez, indieWIRE)
“Hey - You Got Your p2 In My Redcode!” (Don Downie, Small Media Extra Large)
You’re Living in Your Own Private Branded Entertainment Experience (Brian Cain, Campfire)

Tuesday, March 17
Mentors: Producers
Texas New Wave
From Framing Shots to Pushing Pixels: Crossing Between Film and Video Games (Rodney Gibbs, Amaze/Foundation 9)
Mini-Meeting: Texas Filmmaker Production  Fund (Bryan Poyser, Austin Film Society)
Mentors: Press and Bloggers
A Conversation with Richard Linklater & Todd Haynes
Mentors: Filmmakers
Vivid Entertainment – The Sex-Driven Market
Surviving the Festival Circuit (Bryan Poyser, Austin Film Society)
Graphic Design 2.0: Creating the Look and Feel of Your Film
The Future of Visual Storytelling is Interactive — Or Is It? (James Milward, Secret Location inc.)
From HEROES to HELLBOY: Inside Transmedia Storytelling (Matt Wolf, Double Twenty Productions)

Previously announced participants for the 2009 SXSW Film Conference include Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones and John Hamburg in a Conversation panel, acclaimed writer/directors Todd Haynes and Richard Linklater in conversation together, filmmakers Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight, Thirteen), Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Spy Kids) and Mike Judge (Office Space, King of the Hill), longtime Stanley Kubrick producer Jan Harlan, SXSW alum and Mumblecore pioneer Joe Swanberg (Nights and Weekends, Hannah Takes the Stairs), Mark Woollen, the award-winning creator of many memorable trailers (Milk, Slumdog Millionaire, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), as well as a rare appearance by Col Needham, Vice President of IMDb.com Service Limited.

Austin, Texas — The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival is thrilled to announce the complete lineup for this year’s Festival, March 13 – 21, 2009 in Austin, Texas. Over the course of nine days, 108 features will screen at the festival, with 54 of those having their world premieres at SXSW 2009. Among the major films added to the lineup are: Spike Lee’s Passing Strange, Sebastian Gutierrez’s Women in Trouble, Wyatt McDill’s Four Boxes, David Lee Miller’s My Suicide, Tim McCanlie’s The Two Bobs, Cary Fukunaga’s Sin Nombre, Brant Sersen’s Splinterheads, Andrew Bujalski’s Beeswax, Kathryn Bigelow’s Hurt Locker, Greg Mottola’s Adventureland, Joe Swanberg’s Alexander the Last, Duncan Jones’ Moon, Nash Edgerton’s The Square, Michael Paul Stephenson’s Best Worst Movie, Lynn Shelton’s Humpday and John Inwood’s Exterminators. They join previously announced films such as Opening Night film I Love You, Man and Centerpiece screening Observe and Report, as well as documentaries Objectified, New World Order, RiP: A Remix Manifesto and Winnebago Man. These films were selected from 1,511 feature-length film submissions composed of 1,220 U.S. and 291 international feature-length films.

“We couldn’t be more delighted with SXSW 2009 line-up,” says Film Conference and Festival Producer Janet Pierson, “It’s a great continuation of the quality SXSW is known for:  plenty of compelling, new filmmaking talent across all budget lines, engaging documentaries ranging from the socially conscious to the hilarious, electrifying  music films, prominent Texas themes, cutting edge and smart Hollywood films, and an even greater exploration into global cinema.”

The festival’s main competition categories once again find eight Narrative Features and eight Documentary Features, vying for their respective Grand Jury Prizes. The Narrative Feature Competition includes: Artois the Goat, directed by Kyle Bogart, Bomber, directed by Paul Cotter, Breaking Upwards, directed by Daryl Wein, It Was Great, But I Was Ready to Come Home, directed by Kris Swanberg, Made in China, directed by Judi Krant, The Overbrook Brothers, directed by John Bryant, That Evening Sun, directed by Scott Teems and True Adolescents, directed by Craig Johnson.  The Documentary Feature Competition includes: 45356, directed by Bill Ross, Garbage Dreams, directed by Mai Iskander, MINE: Taken By Katrina, directed by Geralyn Pezanoski, Severe Clear, directed by Kristian Fraga, Say My Name, directed by Nirit Pered, The Way We Get By, directed by Aron Gaudet and Trimipin: The Sound of Invention, directed by Peter Esmonde.

The comprehensive lineup, by section and with synopsis descriptions, follows below.

NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
This year’s 8 films were selected from 737 submissions.

Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:

Artois the Goat
Director: Kyle Bogart. Writer: Cliff and Kyle Bogart
Lab technician Virgil Gurdies embarks on an epic quest to craft the greatest goat cheese the world has ever known and reclaim the heart of his beloved Angie.  Cast: Mark Scheibmeir, Sydney Andrews, Stephen Taylor Fry, Dan Braverman (World Premiere)

Bomber
Director/Writer: Paul Cotter
A bittersweet comedy about love, family and dropping bombs on Germany. Cast: Shane Taylor, Benjamin Whitrow, Eileen Nicholas (World Premiere)

Breaking Upwards
Director: Daryl Wein. Writer: Peter Duchan, Daryl Wein, Zoe Lister-Jones
A young New York couple who, desperate to escape their ennui, but fearful of life apart, decide to intricately strategize their own break up.  Cast: Daryl Wein, Zoe Lister-Jones, Julie White, Peter Friedman, Andrea Martin, Pablo Schreiber, La Chanze, Olivia Thirlby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach (World Premiere)

It Was Great, But I Was Ready to Come Home
Director: Kris Swanberg. Writer: Kris Swanberg, Jade Healy, David Lowery, Ben Kasulke
A woman tries to get over her recent breakup by backpacking in Costa Rica with her best friend, and through traveling together, the two women realize they may be on separate trips.  Cast: Kris Swanberg, Jade Healy (World Premiere)

Made in China
Director: Judi Krant. Writer: Judi Krant and Dan Sumpter
Lost in Shanghai, an inventor discovers that it takes more than a bright idea to succeed.  Cast: Jackson Keuhn, Dan Sumpter (World Premiere)

The Overbrook Brothers
Director: John Bryant. Writer: John Bryant and Jason Foxworth
Jason brings his girlfriend home for Christmas… and bad things happen.  Cast: Nathan Harlan, Mark Reeb, Laurel Whitsett, Steve Zissis, John Jones (World Premiere)

That Evening Sun
Director/Writer: Scott Teems
A ruthless grudge match between two old foes.  Lines are drawn, threats are made, and the simmering tension under the Tennessee sun erupts, inevitably, into savagery.  Cast: Hal Holbrook, Mia Wasikowska, Ray McKinnon, Walton Goggins, Carrie Preston (World Premiere)

True Adolescents
Director/Writer: Craig Johnson
Aging indie rocker Sam Bryant takes two teen boys on an ill-fated hiking trip that forces everyone to grow up, and fast.  Cast: Mark Duplass, Melissa Leo, Bret Loehr, Carr Thompson (World Premiere)
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
This year’s 8 films were selected from 737 submissions.

Films screening in Documentary Feature Competition are:

45356
Director: Bill Ross
An inquiring look at everyday life in middle America, the film explores the congruities of daily life in an American town Sidney, Ohio. (World Premiere)

Garbage Dreams
Director: Mai Iskander
Filmed over four years, the film follows three teenage boys born into the trash trade and growing up in the world’s largest garbage village. Each boy chooses a different path when their community is suddenly faced with the globalization of their trade.  (World Premiere)

MINE: Taken By Katrina
Director: Geralyn Pezanoski
After Hurricane Katrina, thousands of pets were rescued and adopted by families around the country, leading to many custody battles. Through these stories, the film examines issues of race, class and animal welfare in the U.S. (World Premiere)

Say My Name
Director: Nirit Peled
A story is built around the lives of entrepreneurs, mothers and artists fighting to be themselves in a society that offers few opportunities for women. (World Premiere)

Severe Clear
Director: Kristian Fraga
Armed with the world’s most lethal ordnance and his home video camera, First Lieutenant Michael T. Scotti captures the chaos and complexity of war. (World Premiere)

Sons of a Gun
Director: Rivkah Beth Medow
A family of 3 schizophrenic men and their alcoholic caregiver/Dad get evicted, move into one motel room, argue, joke around, and find a new home. (World Premiere)

The Way We Get By
Director: Aron Gaudet
On call 24/7 for the past 6 years, a group of senior citizens transform their lives by greeting nearly one million U.S. troops at a tiny airport in Maine. (World Premiere)

Trimpin: The Sound of Invention
Director: Peter Esmonde
A wild ride through the sonic world of an eccentric creative genius of  Artist inventor/engineer/composer Trimpin. (World Premiere)

SPOTLIGHT PREMIERES
Premieres and sneak previews of films with distribution, plus world premieres from notable filmmakers or about notable subjects.

Films screening in Spotlight Premieres are:

Adventureland
Director/Writer: Greg Mottola
In 1987, a recent college graduate takes a nowhere job at his local amusement park and discovers the job is perfect preparation for the real world.  Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Martin Starr

Alexander the Last
Director/Writer: Joe Swanberg
A sensual and intimate portrait of a young marriage. Focusing on an artistic young couple, the film illuminates the challenges of monogamy amidst myriad sexual and creative temptations.  Cast: Jess Weixler, Justin Rice, Barlow Jacobs, Josh Hamilton, Jane Adams (World Premiere)

Beeswax
Director/Writer: Andrew Bujalski
Something like a legal thriller for anyone who considers “legal thriller” an oxymoron, the film revolves around a pair of twin sisters, Jeannie and Lauren – “same face, different bodies” – and Jeannie’s brewing conflict with business partner Amanda.  Cast: Maggie Hatcher, Tilly Hatcher, Alex Karpovsky (US Premiere)

Best Worst Movie
Director: Michael Paul Stephenson
When an Italian filmmaker, an Alabama dentist and fledgling Utah actors filmed the low-budget horror movie, Troll 2, they’d no idea that twenty years later they would be celebrated for making the worst movie ever made. (World Premiere)

For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism
Director: Gerald Peary
The first documentary to dramatize the rich, fascinating history of American film criticism. (World Premiere)

Goodbye Solo
Director: Ramin Bahrani. Writer: Ramin Bahrani and Bahareh Azimi
On the lonely roads of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, two men from very different worlds forge an improbable friendship that will change both of their lives forever.  Cast: Souleymane Sy Savane, Red West, Diana Franco Galindo, Carmen Leyva, Lane ‘Roc’ Williams

Humpday
Director/Writer: Lynn Shelton
A farcical comedy about straight male bonding gone a little too far.  Cast: Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, Alycia Delmore, Lynn Shelton, Trina Willard.

Hurt Locker
Director: Kathryn Bigelow. Writer: Mark Boal
Forced to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in the chaos of war, an elite Army bomb squad unit must come together in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly bomb.
Cast: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce (US Premiere)

I Love You, Man
Director/Writer: John Hamburg
The film centers on a man who, upon getting engaged, realizes he has no close male friends and must find someone to be the Best Man at his wedding.  Cast: Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, J.K. Simmons, Jane Curtin, Jon Favreau and Jaime Pressly (World Premiere, Opening Night Film)

The Last Beekeeper
Director: Jeremy Simmons
This documentary follows the lives of three commercial beekeepers over the course of one year as they struggle with Colony Collapse Disorder. As they all take their bees to California’s enormous annual almond pollination, they are forced to ask the question “If all the bees die, what do you have to live for?” (World Premiere)

Monsters from the ID
Director: David Gargani
The untold story of 1950’s American Sci-Fi Cinema and the role of the Modern Scientist. (World Premiere)

Moon
Director: Duncan Jones. Writer: Nathan Parker
Before returning to Earth after three years on the moon, things go horribly wrong for astronaut Sam Bell.
Cast: Sam Rockwell

New World Order
Director Andrew Neel and Luke Meyer
Impassioned conspiracy theorists travel the globe trying to expose the group that they claim rules the world. (World Premiere)

Objectified
Director: Gary Hustwit
A glimpse into our relationship to manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them. (World Premiere)

Observe and Report
Director/Writer: Jody Hill
This dark comedy follows the story of Ronnie Barnhardt, a deluded, self-important head of mall security who squares off in a turf war against the local cops.  Cast: Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, Michael Peña and Ray Liotta (World Premiere, Centerpiece Slot)

Passing Strange
Director: Spike Lee. Lyrics: Stew.  Music & Lyrics: Stew and Heidi Rodewald
A musical documentary about the international exploits of a young man from Los Angeles who leaves home to find himself and ‘the real’. A theatrical stage production of the original Tony-Award winning book by Stew.  Cast: De’Adre Aziza, Daniel Breaker, Eisa Davis, Colman Domingo, Stew.

Sin Nombre
Director/Writer: Cary Fukunaga
Writer/director Cary Fukunaga’s firsthand experiences with Central American immigrants seeking the promise of the U.S. form the basis of this epic dramatic thriller.  Cast: Edgar Flores, Paulina Gaitan, Kristyan Ferrer, Tenoch Huerta Mej’a, Luis Fernando Pe–a, Diana Garc’a.

The Square
Director: Nash Edgerton. Writer: Joel Edgerton and Matthew Dabner
Nash Edgerton’s debut feature is a film-noir in a bleak Australian town where a simple crime goes horribly wrong and escalates into a nightmare of unforeseen events.  Cast: David Roberts, Claire Van Der Boom, Joel Edgerton, Anthony Hayes, Peter Phelps and Bill Hunter (North American Premiere)

Three Blind Mice
Director/Writer: Matthew Newton
Three young Navy officers hit Sydney for one last night on land before being shipped over to the Gulf to fight.  Throughout the night the boys lose each other, find themselves, and along the way discover courage, friendship and redemption.  Cast: Ewen Leslie, Toby Schmitz, Matthew Newton, Tina Bursill

The Two Bobs
Director/Writer: Tim McCanlies
Just as they finish their groundbreaking violent video-game masterpiece, the two gaming legends known as “The Two Bobs” discover that their precious game-software has been stolen… and with it, their livelihoods, genius reputations, everything they own.  Cast: Tyler Francavilla, Devin Ratray, Mika Boorem, Cody Kasch, Leonardo Nam (World Premiere)

Winnebago Man
Director: Ben Steinbauer
Jack Rebney’s outrageously funny outtakes from a Winnebago sales video became an underground phenomenon and made him an internet superstar. Filmmaker Ben Steinbauer sets out to find him. (World Premiere)

Women in Trouble
Director/Writer: Sebastian Gutierrez
One day in the lives of ten desperate women with one thing in common: trouble.  Cast: Carla Gugino, Josh Brolin, Connie Britton, Adrianne Palicki, Simon Baker (World Premiere)

EMERGING VISIONS
Sidebar for new independent feature films, both documentary and narrative, that exhibit great innovation by filmmakers or from those earlier in their careers.

Films screening in Emerging Visions are:

Awaydays
Director: Pat Holden. Writer: Kevin Sampson
A blade-sharp rites-of-passage that buzzes with the post-punk energy of its late-70s Liverpool setting. Based on the classic novel by Kevin Sampson.  Cast: Nicky Bell, Liam Boyle, Stephen Graham, Oliver Lee (North American Premiere)

Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo
Director: Jessica Oreck
Untangling the web of cultural and historical ties underlying Japan’s deep fascination with insects… and what it says about the rest of us. (World Premiere)

Brock Enright: Good Times Will Never Be The Same
Director: Jody Lee Lipes
Artist Brock Enright’s unbridled creative force clashes with the confines of love, family, and industry, as he crafts the most significant show of his career. (World Premiere)

Creative Nonfiction
Director/Writer: Lena Dunham
Reality and fiction are indistinguishable as a college student tries and fails to differentiate her creative writing screenplay from her increasingly awkward social life.  Cast: Eleonore Endricks, David Unger, Audrey Gelman, Sam Lisenco, Lena Dunham (World Premiere)

Crude Independence
Director: Noah Hutton
A rumination on the future of small town America through the lens of a humanistic tale of change at the hands of the global energy market and its unyielding thirst for oil. (World Premiere)

Four Boxes
Director/Writer: Wyatt McDill
A snarky social thriller about three suburban nobodies watching a creep named Havoc on a website called fourboxes.tv – Rear Window on the internet.  Cast: Justin Kirk, Terryn Westbrook, Sam Rosen (World Premiere)

The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle
Director: David Russo
When Dory’s life seems like it’s going down the drain, a strange “new life” takes shape inside him and he learns that sometimes you don’t have to find meaning, it grows in you.  Cast: Marshall Allman, Vince Vieluf, Natasha Lyonne, Tania Raymonde, Tygh Runyan.

Luckey
Director: Laura Longsworth
After sculptor Tom Luckey’s devastating fall through a window, his family must cross delicate lines drawn long ago by divorce and remarriage while Tom, fully paralyzed and wacky personality intact, pursues building his biggest, most complicated sculpture ever. (World Premiere)

Make-Out with Violence
Director: The Deagol Brothers. Writer: The Deagol Brothers, Cody DeVos and Eric Lehning
A rock musical wherein the living love the dead and break into silence instead of song.  Cast: Eric Lehning, Cody DeVos, Leah High, Brett Miller, Shellie Marie Shartzer

Modern Love is Automatic
Director/Writer: Zach Clark
A story about an apathetic nurse who moonlights as a dominatrix, her aspiring model roommate and the sad, strange world they live in.  Cast: Melodie Sisk, Maggie Ross (World Premiere)

Motherland
Director: Jennifer Steinman
Six grieving mothers journey to Africa in order to test the theory that “giving is healing.” (World Premiere)

My Suicide
Director: David Lee Miller. Writer: David Lee Miller, Eric Adams, Gabriel Sunday, Jordan Miller
An isolated, media obsessed teenager announces he’s going to kill himself for his high school, video production class final project.  Cast: Gabriel Sunday, David Carradine, Joe Mantegna, Nora Dunn, Mariel Hemingway (North American Premiere)

Pulling John
Director: Vassiliki Khonsari
The universal story of a champion arm wrestler’s glory in an unsung sport, who after 25 years of success is now burdened with the inevitable transformation of aging. (World Premiere)

RATS and CATS
Director: Tony Ayres. Writer: Jason Gann, Adam Zwar
Ex-soap star Darren McWarren destroyed his career with a series of indiscretions.  Now he’s living the live away from the spotlight when a “Where are they now” journalist comes to call.  Cast: Jason Gann, Adam Zwar, Anya Beyersdorf, Tony Rogers (North American Premiere)

Sissyboy
Director: Kate Turinski
A juncture in the lives of performance art revolutionaries, the film explores a Portland-based gender-bending drag troupe that has served up their audacity, ambivalence and social commentary throughout the Rose City for over 3 years before hundreds of devoted fans.

Sorry, Thanks
Director: Dia Sokol, Writer: Dia Sokol and Lauren Veloski
Disaster looms when Kira (reeling from a brutal break-up) sleeps with Max (who already has a girlfriend) and Max takes up two new pursuits: an obsessive-tending interest in Kira, and the mystery of whether he may in fact be an ass.  Cast: Wiley Wiggins, Kenya Miles, Andrew Bujalski, Ia Hernandez (World Premiere)

Splinterheads
Director/Writer: Brant Sersen
For Justin Frost, a typical day is rolling out of bed at one, practicing improvised karate, and mowing grass for his best friend’s landscaping business.  But when a traveling carnival lands in his small town, Justin falls for a sexy con artist and wakes up to the life he has yet to begin living.  Cast: Thomas Middleditch, Rachael Taylor, Christopher McDonald, Lea Thompson, Dean Winters (World Premiere)

St. Nick
Director/Writer: David Lowery
A stark, haunting portrait of childhood following the adventures of a runaway brother and sister as they try to survive, all on their own, out on the wintry plains of the great southwest.  Cast: Tucker Sears, Savanna Sears, Barlow Jacobs, Mara Lee Miller (World Premiere)

The Time of Their Lives
Director: Jocelyn Cammack
With a combined age of almost 300, Hetty, Rose and Alison are still powerfully engaged in their individual forms of activism - from journalism, to public speaking to anti-war demonstrations - while quietly negotiating the final moments of their lives. (North American Premiere)

Trust Us, This Is All Made Up
Director: Alex Karpovsky
Immortalized in the world of improv comedy, Second City veterans TJ Jagodowksi and David Pasquesi explore the unique partnership and transcendental forces that govern their legendary performances. (World Premiere)

Wake Up
Director: Jonas Elrod
An average 36-year old guy suddenly wakes up with the ability to see and hear angels, demons, auras and ghosts.  With his girlfriend by his side, he goes on a journey to figure it all out, and his search becomes a guide to revealing larger truths about the world and everyone in it.  (World Premiere)

SX GLOBAL
An initiative to build upon our strong commitment to international films, organized in conjunction with a variety of international film agencies, institutes, broadcasters and producers.

Films screening in SX Global are:

Calling E.T. (Netherlands)
Director: Prosper de Roos.
A close-up look at a small group of people listening, watching, waiting and preparing for their perceived inevitable earthly encounter with extraterrestrial intelligence. (U.S. Premiere)

Favela on Blast (Brazil)
Director: Leandro HBL
Globe trotting taste-maker DJ Diplo presents a look at Brazil’s Baile Funk music scene from directly inside the mountain ghettos where it spawned and thrives.

The Forgotten Tree (Mexico)
Director: Luis Rincon
A documentary that revisits the slums featured over fifty years ago in Los Olvidados, (Luis Buñuel), and reveals the current and similar conditions for the people in this area of Mexico City.

Journey to the End of Coal (France)
Director: Samuel Bollendorff
Millions of Chinese coal miners are making sacrifices everyday, risking their lives and spoiling their land to satisfy their country’s appetite for economic growth.  Meet them and learn more about how they live in this valley of death and pollution in the frozen winter of Northern China. (U.S. Premiere)

Love on Delivery (Denmark)
Director: Janus Metz.
In a remote fishing village in Denmark, 575 Thai women are married to Danish men.  An intimate look at the unique relationships between these Danish men and their Thai wives. (U.S. Premiere)

Roadsworth: Crossing the Line (Canada)
Director: Alan Kohl
Stencil artist Peter Gibson’s personal and professional struggle to defend his work, define himself as an artist and address difficult questions about art and freedom of expression. (U.S. Premiere)

Snowblind (England)
Director: Vikram Jayanti
Rachael Scdoris, 23, and legally blind since birth, is racing in her third Iditarod, the grueling 1,100 mile dog sled race in Alaska that’s the toughest race in the world. (World Premiere)

Sounds Like Teen Spirit…a popumentary (England)
Director: Jamie Johnson.
Behind the scenes look at of the world’s premiere youth music spectacle: The Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

Ticket to Paradise (Denmark)
Director: Janus Metz.
The sequel to Janus Metz’ Love on Delivery’ follows the story of a young Thai-girl’s journey from peasant to sex worker. (U.S. Premiere)

24 BEATS PER SECOND
A showcase for documentaries about music, musicians, or the cultural ties that exist around them.

Films screening in 24 Beats Per Second are:

Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Director: Sacha Gervasi
At 14, Toronto school friends Steve “Lips” Kudlow and Robb Reiner made a pact to rock together forever.  They meant it. Cast: Steve “Lips Kudlow,” Robb Reiner.

All Tomorrow’s Parties
Director: All Tomorrow’s People
A kaleidoscopic journey into the parallel musical universe of cult music festival All Tomorrow’s Parties. (World Premiere)

Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
Director: Chai Vasarhelyi
Youssou Ndour, one of Africa’s most prominent musicians, returns home for the release of his highly controversial album, Egypt. (U.S. Premiere)

Intangible Assets Number 82
Director: Emma Franz
An Australian drummer searches for an enigmatic Korean shaman and is transformed by the journey. (North American Premiere)

Number One with A Bullet
Director: Jim Dziura
A feature-length documentary that pulls back the curtain on gun violence in Hip Hop.

The Promised Land – A Swamp Pop Journey
Director: Matthew Wilkinson
The story of South Louisiana super group Lil’ Band o’Gold.  8 members, 25 egos, 6 livers - coming together to just play music. (World Premiere)

RiP: A Remix Manifesto
Director: Brett Gaylor
A documentary feature exploring issues of copyright in the information age, mashing up the media landscape of the 20th century and shattering the wall between users and producers.  (North American Premiere)

Soul Power
Director: Jeffrey Levy-Hinte
Jeffrey Levy-Hinte takes us on an epic trip back to 1974 when the most famous R & B acts in the world, including James Brown, B.B. King, and Bill Withers, put on 12 hour long concert to help promote Muhammad Ali and George Foreman’s historic “Rumble in the Jungle” in Kinshasa, Zaire. (U.S. Premiere)

When You’re Strange
Director: Tom DiCillo
Using only original footage shot between 1966 and 1971, When You’re Strange: A Film About The Doors, attempts to disentangle truth from myth, depict Jim Morrison, artist and alcoholic/addict, and showcase the other members of the band: Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore, who together channeled the group’s magic.

LONE STAR STATES
A showcase for new independent feature films, both documentary and narrative, that are made by Texas residents or center on Texas subject matter.

Films screening in Lone Star States are:

American Violet
Director: Tim Disney. Writer: Bill Haney
The astonishing story of Dee Roberts, a young African American single mother, whose courageous fight against her unwarranted drug arrest forever changes her life and the Texas justice system.  Cast: Nicole Beharie, Tim Blake Nelson, Will Patton, Michael O’Keefe, Xzibit, with Charles Dutton and Alfre Woodard.

Blaze Foley Inside
Director: Kevin Triplett
A documentary on the everyday man behind the legend, Blaze Foley.  Born in a tree house, killed in a friend’s living room and 86′ed from his own funeral, is now a bona fide country music legend whose songs are covered by Merle Haggard, John Prine, Willie Nelson and Lyle Lovett. (World Premiere)

Exterminators
Director: John Inwood. Writer: Suzanne Weinert
A dark comedy about a group of women who meet in court mandated rage therapy and decide to form a traditional business with very untraditional methods.  Cast: Heather Graham, Jennifer Coolidge, Amber Heard, Joey Lauren Adams, Matthew Settle (World Premiere)

The Least of These
Director: Clark Lyda
Detention of immigrant children in a former medium-security prison leads to controversy when three activist attorneys discover troubling conditions at the facility.  (World Premiere)

Over the Hills and Far Away
Director: Michel Orion Scott
This documentary chronicles the journey of the Isaacson family as they travel through Mongolia in search of a mysterious shaman they believe can heal their autistic son.

Sunshine
Director: Karen Skloss
In 1975 rural Texas, the local mayor’s daughter grapples with an unplanned pregnancy finally deciding to have her baby in secret before giving her away in a hidden adoption. Twenty-three years later, the adopted child also has an unplanned baby out of wedlock. The film tells the intimate story of these two single mothers, while exploring the times and circumstances that afforded them very different options. (World Premiere)

MIDNIGHTERS
Funny or scary (or both) films playing for a midnight audience.

Films screening in Midnighters are:

A Film With Me In It
Director: Ian Fitzgibbon
An actor hard on his luck ends up with a large number of dead bodies on his hands.  Cast: Mark Doherty, Dylan Moran (U.S. Premiere)

The Ceremony
Director/Writer: James Palmer
After finding a bizarre book, a young man is plagued by unexplainable occurrences inside his home.  Cast: Scott Seegmiller (World Premiere)

Grace
Director/Writer: Paul Solet
After losing her unborn child, Madeline Matheson insists on carrying the baby to term. Following the delivery, the child miraculously returns to life, but when the baby develops a desperate appetite for human blood, Madeline is faced with a mother’s ultimate decision.  Cast: Jordan Ladd, Samantha Ferris, Gabrielle Rose, Malcom Stewart

Lake Mungo
Director/Writer: Joel Anderson
A supernatural drama about grief. Cast: Talia Zucker, Rosie Traynor, David Pledger (North American Premiere)

Trailers from Hell.com with Joe Dante – LIVE PRESENTATION
Joe Dante presents The Best of Trailers from Hell which showcases classic-era Previews of Coming Attractions - punctuated with humorous, passionate and insightful commentaries by contemporary filmmakers like John Landis, Eli Roth and Edgar Wright  - with particular emphasis on the lurid, the extreme and the outrageous.

Zift
Director: Javor Gardev. Writer: Vladislav Todorov
A man freed after a wrongful murder conviction enters a diabolical city full of decaying neighborhoods, gloomy streets and bizarre characters. Cast: Zachary Baharov, Tanya Ilieva, Vladmir Penev, Mihail Mutafov

SPECIAL SCREENINGS
A section reserved for highlights in recent film festival success stories or films that screen in a non-competitive capacity.

Films screening in Special Screenings are:

American Prince
Director: Tommy Palotta
After being forgotten for 30 years, filmmaker Tommy Pallotta revisits Scorcese’s lost documentary “American Boy” and its raconteur subject, Steven Prince. (World Premiere)

Berlin Calling
Director/Writer: Hannes Stoehr
Berlin Calling is an extraordinary story that starts in pre-war Berlin, spans three generations, and concludes in the dark and sweaty rock n’ roll clubs that line the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles.  Cast: Paul Kalkbrenner, Rita Lengyel, Corinna Harfouch, Araba Walton, Peter Schneider (U.S. Premiere)

Blood Trail
Director: Richard Parry
War photographer Robert King let a camera crew follow him for over 15 years. From his first assignment in Bosnia to his breakthrough work in Chechnya, and on to his recent coverage in Iraq, Blood Trail is an extraordinary look at this difficult and dangerous profession. (U.S. Premiere)

Burma VJ
Director: Anders Ostergaard
Armed with small handy cams, undercover Video Journalists in Burma risk their lives to keep up the flow of news from their closed country as in September 2007 thousands of monks take to the streets of Rangoon in a peaceful protest against the country’s military rulers.

Daytime Drinking
Director/Writer: NOH Young-seok
A drinking road trip fable of a guy who just got dumped…  Cast: SONG Sam-dong, YUK Sang-yeop, KIM Kang-hee  (U.S. Premiere)

For All Mankind
Director: Al Reinart
A trip to another world disguised as a documentary.

De Ofrivilliga (Involuntary)
Director: Ruben Östlund. Writer: Erik Hemmendorff and Ruben Östlund
A tragic comedy or comic tragedy about group pressure on the individual. Five separate episodes on everyday disasters.  Cast: Maria Lundqvist, Leif Edlund, Olle Lijas, Vera Vitali, Cecilia Milocco (North American Premiere)

It Came From Kuchar
Director: Jennifer M. Kroot
The hilarious and touching story of the legendary, underground filmmaking twins, George and Mike Kuchar, and how their outrageous, no-budget movies inspired generations of filmmakers (World Premiere)

Know Your Mushrooms
Director: Ron Mann
Filmmaker Ron Mann puts the fun in fungus with his newest documentary. (U.S. Premiere)

Letters to the President
Director: Petr Lom
Exclusive access film about President Ahmadinejad of Iran, and what life is like under his regime.  The film takes as its narrative thread the letters that supposedly ten million Iranians have written to the President. (North American Premiere)

Office Space – 10th Anniversary – LIVE PRESENTATION
Director Mike Judge will present a special screening of the cult phenomenon film on the occasion of its 10th Anniversary.

The Paranoids
Director: Gabriel Medina. Writer: Gabriel Medina and Nicolas Gueilburt
An aspiring screenwriter who lives in constant state of paranoia, faces the return of his successful friend Manuel and his girlfriend in this off-beat romantic comedy. (U.S. Premiere)

Saint Misbehavin: The Life and Time of Wavy Gravy
Director: Michelle Esrick
The true story of cultural phenomenon Wavy Gravy – a man whose life proves that you can change the world and have fun doing it. (World Premiere)

The Snake
Director/Writer: Adam Goldstein and Eric Kutner
The funniest movie about dating a bulimic… possibly ever.  Cast: Adam Goldstein, Nina Braddock (World Premiere)

Strongman
Director: Zachary Levy
Stainless Steel bills himself as the world’s strongest man (at bending steel) and hopes to make it big despite his advancing age.

Sweethearts of the Rodeo
Director: Bradley Beesley
Amidst stories of murder, hardship, heartache and redemption, the film follows the convict cowgirls of the Eddie Warriors Correctional Center in their preparation for the only rodeo where female prisoners compete rough-stock and as equals against male prison teams. (World Premiere)

We Live in Public
Director: Ondi Timor
The story of the Internet’s revolutionary impact on human interaction as told through the eyes of Internet pioneer and visionary, Josh Harris.

The Yes Men Fix the World
Director: Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno and Kurt Engfehr
A pair of notorious troublemakers sneaks into corporate events disguised as captains of industry, then use their momentary authority to expose the biggest criminals on the planet. Cast: Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno

You Won’t Miss Me
Director: Ry Russo-Young. Writer: Ry Russo-Young and Stella Schnabel
A portrait of a modern day rebel, Shelly Brown, a twenty-three year-old alienated urban misfit recently released from a psychiatric hospital. Cast: Stella Schnabel, Rene Ricard

Rotterdam, The Netherlands — During the IFFR 2009 Awards Ceremony on Friday, January 30, 2009 in the Rotterdamse Schouwburg, the winning films of the 38th International Film Festival Rotterdam were announced. The three VPRO Tiger Awards were granted to the Hubert Bals Fund supported film Be Calm and Count to Seven (Aram bash va ta haft beshmar) by Ramtin Lavafipour (Iran), to Breathless (Ddongpari) by Yang Ik-June (South Korea), and to Wrong Rosary (Uzak ihtimal) by Mahmut Fazil Coskun (Turkey). On Saturday January 31st, 2009 the KPN Audience Award and the Dioraphte Award for Best Hubert Bals Fund Supported Film 2009 will be announced.

VPRO Tiger Awards
Fourteen films by first or second filmmakers competed in the VPRO Tiger Awards Competition 2009. The Jury consists visual artist Marlene Dumas (South Africa/The Netherlands), Turkish writer, filmmaker and Jury Chair Yesim Ustaoglu (her Journey To The Sun (1999) and recent Pandora’s Box, both supported by the Hubert Bals Fund, screen in the festival), Mr Park Ki-Yong, Director of the Korean Academy of Arts and Co-Director of the Cinema Digital Seoul Film Festival, Hungarian writer, director and actor Kornél Mundruczó (his Delta screens in the festival) and Kent Jones, Associate Director of Programming Film Society of Lincoln Center, New York.

The jury statements on the VPRO Tiger Award winning films:

Be Calm and Count to Seven (Aram bash va ta haft beshmar) by Ramtin Lavafipour (Iran, 2008)
‘We were extremely impressed by the artistry and vigor of the first film – the level of craft and cinematic intelligence on the one hand, the dedication to rendering the reality of a particular way of life on the other. For us, this film did what all films strive to do: it represented and dramatized a way of life in terms that were at once specific and universal, not to mention unfailingly vivid.’

Be Calm and Count to Seven is supported by the Hubert Bals Fund.

Breathless (Ddongpari) by Yang Ik-June (South Korea, 2008)
‘A powerfully rendered and acted film with a keen sense of reality in its portrayal of a situation that has been seldom seen in cinema. We were also surprised to see an extremely troubling subject matter treated with a welcome sense of warmth and humor.’

Wrong Rosary (Uzak ihtimal) by Mahmut Fazil Coskun (Turkey, 2008)
‘A uniquely creative film of the most eloquent simplicity, a film built from a feeling of immediacy, moment by moment, breath by breath; a film that builds an absolutely unique form of suspense; a film that stays true to itself from beginning to end.’

Each VPRO Tiger Award comes with a prize of Euro 15,000 and guaranteed broadcast by Dutch public television network VPRO.

NETPAC Award
The NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) Jury, consisting of Film producer Shan Donbing (China), film journalist Okubo Ken’ichi (Japan), and filmmaker Sun Koh (Singapore), presented the NETPAC Award to:

The Land (Dadi) by He Jia (China, 2008)
“The jury awards The Land for achieving in cinema what is impossible through any other art form by showing its subjects and the viewers how humanity remains unchanged with the passage of time.”

A Special Mention was awarded to:

Agrarian Utopia by Uruphong Raksasad (Thailand, 2009)
“The jury would like to commend the maker of Agrarian Utopia for his bravery, his folly and his determination in showing us his little piece of heaven.”

Agrarian Utopia is supported by the Hubert Bals Fund.

FIPRESCI Award
The jury of the international association of film critics FIPRESCI (Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique), consisted of Leo Soesanto (France, ‘Les Inrockuptibles’, Jury Chair), Dana Linssen (Netherlands, ‘Filmkrant’), Maya McKechneay (Austria, ‘Blickpunkt:Film’), Firat Yücel (Turkey, ‘Altyazi’), Ashok Rane (India, ‘Sakal’).

The FIPRESCI decided to award the International Critics’ Prize to Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly (Babi buta yang ingin terbang) by Edwin (Indonesia, 2008), selected for the the VPRO Tiger Awards Competition of the 2009 International Film Festival Rotterdam.

The Jury statement:
“A brave film, fragmented in a way that each bit is very sharp as an edgy, personal and political statement. As critics, we were most challenged on many levels by this work which kept coming back again and again in our discussions as the song “I Just Called to Say I love You” did infectiously in the film”.

Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly (Babi buta yang ingin terbang), supported by the Hubert Bals Fund, was selected for CineMart 2008.

KNF Award
The jury of the KNF, the Association of Dutch film critics, at the International Film Festival Rotterdam consisting of jury president Ronald Rovers (‘Filmkrant’, The Netherlands), Jann Ruyters (‘Trouw’, The Netherlands), Leo Bankersen (‘Filmkrant’, The Netherlands), Berend-Jan Bockting (‘VPRO Gids’, The Netherlands), and Sven Gerrets (‘Oor’, The Netherlands).

The KNF Jury has chosen its winner among films in Rotterdam 2009 official selection that have not yet been acquired for Dutch distribution. To the KNF Award, a grant is attached for subtitling the film, sponsored by Holland Subtitling. The Award of the KNF is meant to promote the acquisition for distribution within The Netherlands.

The winner of the KNF Award is Tony Manero by Pablo Larraín (Chile/Brazil, 2008). The Jury stated:
The young director of this film dared to take one of cinema’s most beloved icons to tell a grim and subversive story about the nature of dictatorship. He delivers his message with a beautiful deadpan expression in the form of a middle aged psychopath on his quest to become the leading John Travolta impersonator on a nineteen seventies tv-show, thereby providing a mirror for ruthless authoritarianism.
Tony Manero is supported by the Hubert Bals Fund.

Earlier in the festival, the following awards were announced:

Tiger Awards Competition for short film
The three Tiger Awards for Short Film were granted to A Necessary Music by Beatrice Gibson (UK), Despair (Otchajanie) by Galina Myznikova & Sergey Provorov (Russia) and Bernadette by Duncan Campbell (UK).

The jury for Tiger Awards for Short Film comprised Malaysian writer and director Tan Chui Mui (her seven recent short films screen in the festival), Maria Pallier, buyer and programme maker for the Spanish broadcasting company TVE, and the British journalist, curator and artist George Clark.

MovieSquad Award
The Rotterdam young people’s jury, consisting of Ms. Charlotte Eskens (16), Ms. Katinka Nauta (17), Mr. Alain Tjiong (17), Mr. David Hofland (15) and Ms. Thecla Baas (18) chose the winner out of twenty films in official Rotterdam 2009 selection. The award comprises Dutch distribution within the MovieZone educational film programme for young people and 2,000 Euro to be spent on its promotion among young people in The Netherlands.

The jury presented the MovieSquad Award to Slumdog Millionaire by Danny Boyle & Loveleen Tandan (United Kingdom, 2008).

MovieSquad is an initiative of the Nederlands Instituut voor Filmeducatie (Dutch Institute for Film Education) in collaboration with the International Film Festival Rotterdam.

Arte France Cinéma Awards
The Arte France Cinema Award (10,000 Euro) for the best CineMart 2009 Projects was given given to Him by Lance Weiler, a production of Seize The Media (USA).

The Arte France Cinema Awards Jury 2008 consisted of Michel Reilhac (France, General Manager Arte France Cinéma).

The Arte France Cinéma Awards are in cash, given to the producers towards financing the development of the awarded projects. By introducing the Award, Arte France Cinéma and CineMart aim to further support and promote the development and production of independent filmmaking.

Prince Claus Fund Film Grant
The ninth Prince Claus Fund Film Grant of 15,000 Euro has been awarded to the CineMart 2009 Project Birdie (Shuvuukhai) by Byamba Sakhya (Mongolia). The Grant was announced during the CineMart Closing Night Party on January 28, 2009.

The Jury of the 2009 Prince Claus Fund Film Grant consisted of: jury chair Karim Traïdia (Algeria / Netherlands), filmmaker and a member of the Prince Claus Fund Board and jury members Harutyun Khachatryan (Armenia), filmmaker and Prince Claus Laureate 2007; Alicia Scherson (Chile), filmmaker; Monique Hendrickx (Netherlands), actress; and René Mioch (Netherlands), film critic and producer.

The Prince Claus Fund Film Grant is annually awarded in cooperation with CineMart to support the very first creative phase of the development of a film production. Every year, the Film Grant is presented to a CineMart project by a filmmaker from Africa, Asia, Latin America or the Caribbean, and selected for its excellent concept and innovative quality by an international expert jury.

Berlin, Germany — Twenty six films will be presented in the Competition programme of the 59th Berlin International Film Festival, 18 of which will compete for the Golden and Silver Bears in the Berlinale Palast. The official programme will be complemented by the Berlinale Special.

Of the 18 films in competition, 14 are world premieres, and there are 17 world premieres in the complete Competition programme. Eighteen countries are represented.
To this year’s Berlinale Special 15 films have been invited, 10 of which are world premieres.

The following films complete the Competition and Berlinale Special:

Competition

My One and Only (USA)
By Richard Loncraine
With Renée Zellweger, Kevin Bacon, Logan Lerman, Mark Rendall
World Premiere

Berlinale Special – Gala Screenings at the Friedrichstadtpalast

An Education (Great Britain)
By Lone Scherfig
With Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Dominic Cooper

It Might Get Loud (USA)
Documentary by Davis Guggenheim
With The Edge, Jimmy Page, Jack White

The programme of the 59th Berlin International Film Festival will is available at: www.berlinale.de

Park City, UT — Hard hitting director Nicolas Winding Refn’s latest feature Bronson gives viewers an artistically dark bio pic based on the actual life of the most violent and famous prisoner in Britain.

Growing up Michael Peterson was always getting into fights – fights with his schoolmates, fights with his teachers, and when the police came to arrest him for stealing £26.18, he fought with them too. Initially sentenced to seven years, it was just the start of a 34 year prison “career” which still continues to this day.

Continually fighting with guards, Peterson is moved to multiple prisons – describing each new cell as a sort of hotel room. It’s not long before Peterson’s aggression turns him into somewhat of a celebrity, but because they don’t know what to do with him, he’s eventually sent to an insane asylum. Drugged up and docile, Peterson is easily controlled. But he quickly becomes bored of the environment and in order to get back into a proper prison, he attacks an inmate. The result? He’s deemed “sane” and released into public just to get him out of their hair.

Peterson was determined to make a name for himself after being released. Joining up with an associate from prison, Peterson began a new career as a bare-knuckle boxer. Peterson changes his name to Charles Bronson because it sounds tough, and he even starts a relationship with a girl he met through his uncle. It took only 68 days for Bronson to get arrested again, but this time for robbing a jewelry store for an engagement ring.

Back in prison, Bronson is up to the same old tricks. This time he captures a guard and forces him to rub Vaseline all over Bronson’s naked body – making him hard to get a hold of when he fights with incoming guards. In prison the one thing that started to get through to Bronson was an art teacher who encouraged him to explore his artistic side. Bronson spends a lot of time developing his talent, but his unpredictable behavior eventually takes over again when he takes the art teacher hostage and terrorizes him.

With his previous films (The Pusher Trilogy and Fear X) Nicolas Winding Refn has built a reputation as a director that “pulls no punches.” That is certain true in Bronson as well. But although the film has a lot of violence, it is just a part of the well-crafted feature that shocks as much as it delights. A rich color palette, nicely composed shots and some interesting camera moves makes the film visually exciting and the violence is handled very artfully – sometimes being shown in slow motion on top of a soothing operatic music bed. Tom Hardy’s performance is fantastic, inviting viewers in to the complexities of Bronson’s character – sometimes you think he’s a monster, sometimes you think he’s a comedian – leaving the audience unsure if they should cringe, grimace or laugh. Easily one of the most artistic films at Sundance this year (even, dare we say it, Kubrickian in some ways) we hope to see it get picked up for a US release!

Check out the trailer!

Or get more info at the official site.

Park City, UT — The jury and audience award-winners of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival were announced tonight at the Festival’s closing Awards Ceremony hosted by actor Jane Lynch in Park City, Utah. Films receiving jury awards were selected from the four categories: U.S. Dramatic and Documentary Competition and World Dramatic and Documentary Competition. Films in these categories were also eligible for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival Audience Awards. The U.S. Audience Awards presented by Honda were announced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The World Cinema Audience Awards were announced by Benjamin Bratt. Highlights from the Awards Ceremony can be seen on the Sundance Channel, the Official Television Network of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, beginning Sunday, January 25, as well as on the official Festival website.

Jury Prizes in Shorts Filmmaking were awarded to American and international short-form films on Tuesday, January 20. Other awards recognized at the ceremony included the Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Award, created to honor and support emerging filmmakers with their next screenplays, and the Alfred P. Sloan Prize, awarded to a film which excels in addressing compelling topics in science or technology.

“This has been a truly remarkable year for Sundance in ways even we did not fully predict. We opened the Festival with animation and closed with science fiction, and in between showcased some of the best films we’ve ever seen,” said Geoffrey Gilmore, Director, Sundance Film Festival. “People ask us how independent film has evolved over the past 25 years and the answer is, quite simply, it’s better.”

“We knew this would be an historic year, given our anniversary and the inauguration,” said John Cooper, Director of Programming, Sundance Film Festival. “But I have to say that adding to the excitement and experience was the selection of truly high quality films in this year’s competition. We were blown away and so were audiences.”

The 2009 Sundance Film Festival Juries consisted of:

U.S. Dramatic Competition: Virginia Madsen, Scott McGehee, Maud Nadler, Mike White and Boaz Yakin; U.S. Documentary Competition: Patrick Creadon, Carl Deal, Andrea Meditch, Sam Pollard and Marina Zenovich; World Dramatic Competition: Colin Brown (U.S.), Christine Jeffs (New Zealand) and Vibeke Windeløv (Denmark); World Documentary Competition: Gillian Armstrong (Australia), Thom Powers (U.S.); Hubert Sauper (France); Shorts Competition: Gerardo Naranjo, Lou Taylor Pucci and Sharon Swart; The Alfred P. Sloan Prize: Fran Bagenal, Rodney Brooks, Raymond Gesteland, Jeffrey Nachmanoff and Alex Rivera.

For the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, 118 feature-length films were selected including 91 world premieres, 16 North American premieres, and 5 U.S. premieres representing 21 countries with 42 first-time filmmakers, including 28 in competition. These films were selected from 3,661 feature- length film submissions composed of 1,905 U.S. and 1,756 international feature-length films.

The 2009 Sundance Film Festival Award Winners:

The Grand Jury Prize: U.S. Documentary was presented to We Live in Public,directed by Ondi Timoner. The film portrays the story of the Internet’s revolutionary impact on human interaction as told through the eyes of maverick web pioneer, Josh Harris, and his transgressive art project that shocked New York.

The Grand Jury Prize: U.S. Dramatic was presented to Push: Based on the novel by Sapphire, directed by Lee Daniels and written by Damien Paul. The film tells the redemptive story of Precious Jones, a young girl in Harlem struggling to overcome tremendous obstacles and discover her own voice.

The World Cinema Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to Rough Aunties, directed by Kim Longinotto. Fearless, feisty and unwavering, the ‘Rough Aunties’ protect and care for the abused, neglected and forgotten children of Durban, South Africa. United Kingdom

The World Cinema Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to The Maid (La Nana), directed by Sebastián Silva. When her mistress brings on another servant to help with the chores, a bitter and introverted maid wreaks havoc on the household. Chile

The Audience Awards are presented to both a dramatic and documentary film in four Competition categories as voted by Sundance Film Festival audiences. The 2009 Sundance Film Festival Audience Awards are presented by Honda.

The Audience Award presented by Honda: U.S. Documentary was presented to The Cove, directed by Louie Psihoyos. The horrors of a secret cove nestled off a small, coastal village in Japan are revealed by a group of activists.

The Audience Award presented by Honda: U.S. Dramatic was presented to Push: Based on the novel by Sapphire, directed by Lee Daniels and written by Damien Paul. The film tells the redemptive story of Precious Jones, a young girl in Harlem struggling to overcome tremendous obstacles and discover her own voice.

The World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary was presented to Afghan Star, directed by Havana Marking. After 30 years of war and Taliban rule, Pop Idol has come to television in Afghanistan: millions are watching and voting for their favorite singer. Marking’s film follows the dramatic stories of four contestants as they risk their lives to sing. Afghanistan/United Kingdom

The World Cinema Audience Award: Dramatic was presented to An Education, directed by Lone Scherfig from a screenplay by Nick Hornby. In the early 60s, a sharp 16-year-old with sights set on Oxford meets a handsome older man whose sophistication enraptures and sidetracks both her and her parents.United Kingdom

Directing Awards recognize excellence in directing for dramatic and documentary features.

The Directing Award: U.S. Documentary was presented to El General and director Natalia Almada. As great-granddaughter of President Plutarco Eliás Calles, one of Mexico’s most controversial revolutionary figures, the filmmaker paints an intimate portrait of Mexico.

The Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic was presented to Sin Nombre, written and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga. Filmmaker Fukunaga’s first-hand experiences with Mexican immigrants seeking the promise of the U.S. form the basis of this epic Spanish-language dramatic thriller.

The World Cinema Directing Award: Documentary was presented to Afghan Star, directed by Havana Marking. After 30 years of war and Taliban rule, Pop Idol has come to television in Afghanistan: millions are watching and voting for their favorite singer. Marking’s film follows the dramatic stories of four contestants as they risk their lives to sing. Afghanistan/United Kingdom

The World Cinema Directing Award: Dramatic was presented to Five Minutes of Heaven, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel from a screenplay by Guy Hibbert. Two men from the same town but from different sides of the Irish political divide discover that the past is never dead. United Kingdom/Ireland

The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award was presented to Nicholas Jasenovec and Charlyne Yi for Paper Heart. Even though performer Charlyne Yi doesn’t believe in love, she bravely embarks on a quest to discover its true nature - a journey that takes on surprising urgency when she meets unlikely fellow traveler, actor Michael Cera.

The World Cinema Screenwriting Award was presented to Five Minutes of Heaven, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel from a screenplay by Guy Hibbert. Two men from the same town but from different sides of the Irish political divide discover that the past is never dead. United Kingdom/Ireland

The U.S. Documentary Editing Award was presented to Sergio. Directed by Greg Barker and edited by Karen Schmeer, the film examines the role of the United Nations and the international community through the life and experiences of Sergio Vieira de Mello, the U.N.’s High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The World Cinema Documentary Editing Award was presented to Burma VJ. Directed by Anders Østergaard and edited by Janus Billeskov Jansen and Thomas Papapetros. The film takes place in September 2007 as Burmese journalists risk life imprisonment to report from inside their sealed-off country. Denmark

The Excellence in Cinematography Awards honor exceptional cinematography in both dramatic and documentary categories.

The Excellence in Cinematography Award: U.S. Documentary was presented to The September Issue. With unprecedented access, director R.J. Cutler, cinematographer Bob Richman and their crew shot for nine months to capture editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and her team preparing the 2007 Vogue September issue, widely accepted as the “fashion bible” for the year’s trends.

The Excellence in Cinematography Award: U.S. Dramatic was presented to Sin Nombre, written and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga. Cinematographer: Adriano Goldman. Filmmaker Fukunaga’s first-hand experiences with Mexican immigrants seeking the promise of the U.S. form the basis of this epic Spanish-language dramatic thriller.

The World Cinema Cinematography Award: Documentary was presented to Big River Man, John Maringouin’s documentary about at an overweight, wine-swilling Slovenian world-record-holding endurance swimmer who resolves to brave the mighty Amazon in nothing but a Speedo. U.S.A./United Kingdom

The World Cinema Cinematography Award: Dramatic was presented to An Education, directed by Lone Scherfig from a screenplay by Nick Hornby. Cinematographer: John De Borman. In the early 1960s, a sharp 16-year-old girl with sights set on Oxford meets a handsome older man whose sophistication enraptures and sidetracks both her and her parents. United Kingdom

A World Cinema Special Jury Prize for Originality was presented to Louise-Michel, directed by Benoit Delépine and Gustave de Kervern, about a group of disgruntled female French factory workers who, after the factory abruptly closes, pool their paltry compensation money to hire a hit man to knock off the corrupt executive behind the closure. France

A World Cinema Special Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to Tibet in Song directed by Ngawang Choephel. Through the story of Tibetan music, this film depicts the determined efforts of Tibetan people, both in Tibet and in exile, to preserve their unique cultural identity. Choephel served six years of an 18-year prison sentence for filming in Tibet. Tibet

A World Cinema Special Jury Prize for Acting was presented to Catalina Saavedra for her portrayal of a bitter and introverted maid in The Maid (La Nana). Chile

A Special Jury Prize: U.S. Documentary was presented to Good Hair, directed by Jeff Stilson, in which comedian Chris Rock travels the world to examine the culture of African-American hair and hairstyles.

A Special Jury Prize for Spirit of Independence was presented to Humpday, Lynn Shelton’s farcical comedy about straight male bonding gone a little too far.

A Special Jury Prize for Acting was presented to Mo’Nique for her portrayal of a mentally ill mother who both emotionally and physically imprisons her daughter in Push: Based on the novel by Sapphire.

The 2009 Jury Prize in U.S. Short Filmmaking was awarded to: Short Term 12, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton. The jury also presented the International Jury Prize in International Short Filmmaking to Lies, directed by Jonas Odell. Honorable Mentions in Short Filmmaking were presented to The Attack of the Robots from Nebula-5, directed by Chema Garcia Ibarra; Protect You + Me, directed by Brady Corbet; Western Spaghetti, directed by PES; Jerrycan, directed by Julius Avery; Love You More, directed by Sam Taylor-Wood, I Live in the Woods, directed by Max Winston, Omelette, directed by Nadejda Koseva; and Treevenge, directed by Jason Eisener.

As announced on Friday, Adam, directed by Max Mayer, is the recipient of this year’s Alfred P. Sloan Prize. The Prize, which carries a $20,000 cash award to the filmmaker provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, is presented to an outstanding feature film focusing on science or technology as a theme, or depicting a scientist, engineer or mathematician as a major character.

Sundance Institute and NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) on Thursday announced the winners of the 2009 Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Awards honoring and supporting emerging filmmakers–one each from the United States, Japan, Europe and Latin America. The winning filmmakers and projects for 2009 are Diego Lerman, Ciencias Morales (Moral Sciences) from Argentina; David Riker, The Girl, from the United States; Qurata Kenji, Speed Girl from Japan; and Lucile Hadzihalilovic, Evolution from France.

Park City, UT — Talented writer Robert’s first feature tells the story of Paul Aufiero, a lonesome thirty something guy whose fanatic loyalty to The New York Giants, suddenly comes into question when he gets beaten up by his favorite football player.

Paul Aufiero doesn’t have a lot going on in his life. In his mid-thirties, he still lives at home with his mom and works as a parking garage attendant. An enormous fan of The New York Giants and his favorite player Quantrell Bishop, Paul spends his time writing rants for a local call-in radio show called Sports Talk. Striving to out rant his nemesis Philadelphia Phil, Paul calls the show every night to talk up the Giants and to verbally beat down anyone who opposes them.

One evening, Paul and his best friend Sal see Quantrell Bishop at a near by gas station and they decide to follow him around. After making a quick stop, Bishop heads to Manhattan to a ritzy strip club. Paul and Sal follow him inside in hopes that they’ll be able to somehow talk to Bishop and ultimately hang out with him. After several failed attempts at a “chance” meeting, Paul and Sal decide to just walk up to Bishop’s table and introduce themselves. Everything starts out well but when it slips out that they followed Bishop from Staten Island, a fight breaks out leaving Paul in the hospital.

Paul recovers but is hopelessly depressed. Because of the incident, Bishop has been suspended and the Giants are on a losing streak. If that wasn’t enough, people won’t leave him alone about it, reporters and the district attorney are constantly calling, and his brother (an attorney) pressures Paul to sue. Even Philadelphia Phil gets in on the action insulting Paul, his beloved Giants and revealing Paul’s identity on air as “the guy who got beat up by Bishop”. But when Philadelphia Phil challenges Paul to meet him at a bar during the next Eagle game, Paul decides it’s time to take some action.

Big Fan is an entertaining film which hinges on the edge of a dark comedy. Patton Oswalt is nicely cast as the fanatical and somewhat creepy Paul Aufiero, and is backed up with the talented and edgy actors Kevin Corrigan and Michael Rapaport. The hand-held Red One Camera gives the film a gritty indie feel, but is clean enough to keep from distracting from the story. Overall it’s a fun film to watch as the turns unfold (particularly if you’re a football fan) and one that keeps viewers guessing up until the end.

For more info, check out film on IMDB.