1.
Venice
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Venice is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is situated across a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and these are located in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay that lies between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Parts of Venice are renowned for the beauty of their settings, their architecture, the lagoon and a part of the city are listed as a World Heritage Site. In 2014,264,579 people resided in Comune di Venezia, together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, with a total population of 2.6 million. PATREVE is a metropolitan area without any degree of autonomy. The name is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century BC, the city was historically the capital of the Republic of Venice. Venice has been known as the La Dominante, Serenissima, Queen of the Adriatic, City of Water, City of Masks, City of Bridges, The Floating City, and City of Canals. The City State of Venice is considered to have been the first real international financial center which gradually emerged from the 9th century to its peak in the 14th century and this made Venice a wealthy city throughout most of its history. It is also known for its several important artistic movements, especially the Renaissance period, Venice has played an important role in the history of symphonic and operatic music, and it is the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi. Venice has been ranked the most beautiful city in the world as of 2016, the name Venetia, however, derives from the Roman name for the people known as the Veneti, and called by the Greeks Eneti. The meaning of the word is uncertain, although there are other Indo-European tribes with similar-sounding names, such as the Celtic Veneti, Baltic Veneti, and the Slavic Wends. Linguists suggest that the name is based on an Indo-European root *wen, so that *wenetoi would mean beloved, lovable, a connection with the Latin word venetus, meaning the color sea-blue, is also possible. The alternative obsolete form is Vinegia, some late Roman sources reveal the existence of fishermen on the islands in the original marshy lagoons. They were referred to as incolae lacunae, the traditional founding is identified with the dedication of the first church, that of San Giacomo on the islet of Rialto — said to have taken place at the stroke of noon on 25 March 421. Beginning as early as AD166 to 168, the Quadi and Marcomanni destroyed the center in the area. The Roman defences were again overthrown in the early 5th century by the Visigoths and, some 50 years later, New ports were built, including those at Malamocco and Torcello in the Venetian lagoon. The tribuni maiores, the earliest central standing governing committee of the islands in the Lagoon, the traditional first doge of Venice, Paolo Lucio Anafesto, was actually Exarch Paul, and his successor, Marcello Tegalliano, was Pauls magister militum. In 726 the soldiers and citizens of the Exarchate rose in a rebellion over the controversy at the urging of Pope Gregory II
2.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
3.
66th Venice International Film Festival
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The 66th annual Venice Film Festival held in Venice, Italy, was opened on 2 September 2009 by Baarìa - La porta del vento. International competition jury, led by Ang Lee, awarded Leone dOro to Lebanon, the festival was closed on 12 September 2009, with Maria Grazia Cucinotta serving as the festivals hostess. The following 25 films competed for the Leone doro, official website 66th Venice Film Festival 2009
4.
64th Venice International Film Festival
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The 64th Venice International Film Festival, held in Venice, Italy, opened on August 29,2007, with Joe Wrights Atonement and closed September 8,2007. Host of the event was Italian actress Ambra Angiolini, the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to American director Tim Burton. Once again all the running the contest were shown for the first time as world premieres in keeping with the festival tradition since the Second World War. International competition of films in 35mm and digital format running for Golden Lion for best picture. Cassandras Dream, Woody Allen Cleópatra, Júlio Bressane La Fille coupée en deux, Claude Chabrol Disengagement, Amos Gitai Beyond the Years, Im Kwon Taek Glory to the Filmmaker. This is the part of the retrospective, initiated at the 61st edition of the festival. I sette del Texas, Joaquín Luis Romero Marchent 100, ferdinando Baldi Tepepa, Giulio Petroni Una lunga fila di croci, Sergio Garrone La taglia è tua. luomo lammazzo io, Edoardo Mulargia Lo chiamavano Trinità, Enzo Barboni Matalo. Official website 64th Venice Film Festival 2007
5.
Venice Film Festival
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The film festival is part of the Venice Biennale, which was founded by the Venetian City Council in 1895. The film festival has taken place in late August or early September on the island of the Lido, Venice. Screenings take place in the historic Palazzo del Cinema on the Lungomare Marconi, since its inception the Venice Film Festival has grown into one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world. The 74th Venice International Film Festival is scheduled to be held from 30 August to 9 September 2017, the first edition of the Venice Film Festival was carried out from the 6 to the 21 of August in 1932. The festival began with an idea of the president of the Venice Biennale Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata and Luciano De Feo, with good reason, the festival was considered the first international event of its type, receiving strong support from authorities. This first edition was held on the terrace of the Hotel Excelsior on the Venice Lido, and at that stage it was not a competitive event. The very first film to be shown in the history of the Festival was Rouben Mamoulians Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the second edition was held two years later, from 1 to 20 of August in 1934. For the first time it included a competition, at least 19 countries took part with over 300 accredited journalists. The Mussolini Cup was introduced for best foreign film and best Italian film, other awards were the Great Gold Medals of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment to best actor and actress. The prize for best foreign film went to Robert J. Flahertys Man of Aran and was a confirmation of the taste of the time for auteur documentaries, starting in 1935, the Festival became a yearly event under the direction of Ottavio Croze. The actors award was renamed Volpi Cup, in 1936 an international jury was nominated for the first time and in 1937 the new Cinema Palace, designed by the architect Luigi Quagliata, was inaugurated. The 1940s represent one of the most difficult moments for the review, the conclusion of the Second World War divides the decade in two. Before 1938 political pressures distorted and ruined the festival, in addition, few countries participated and there was an absolute monopoly of institutions and directors that were members of the Rome-Berlin Axis. The festival resumed full speed in 1946, after the war, with the return of normalcy, Venice once again became a great icon of the film world. In 1947 the festival was held at the Doges Palace, a most magnificent backdrop for hosting a record 90 thousand participants, surely it can be considered one of the greatest editions in the history of the festival. For the next twenty years the festival continued its development and expansion in accordance with the plan set in motion after the war. In 1963 the winds of change blow strongly during Luigi Chiarini’s directorship of the festival, during the years of his presidency, Chiarini aspired to renew the spirit and the structures of the festival, pushing for a total reorganization of the entire system. The social and political unrest of 1968 had strong repercussions on the Venice Bienniale, from 1969 to 1979 no prizes were awarded and the festival returned to the non-competitiveness of the first edition
6.
Burn After Reading
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Burn After Reading is a 2008 American black comedy film written, produced, edited and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The film stars George Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, the film had its premiere on August 27,2008, when it opened the 2008 Venice Film Festival. It was released in the United States on September 12,2008, faced with a demotion at work due to a drinking problem, Osbourne Cox angrily quits his job as a CIA analyst and decides to write a memoir. When his pediatrician wife Katie finds out, she sees it as an opportunity to file for divorce and continue her affair with Harry Pfarrer and she copies her husbands financial records and other files, including the draft memoir, and gives them to her lawyer. The lawyers assistant copies the files onto a CD, which she leaves on the locker room floor of Hardbodies. The disc falls into the hands of dim-witted personal trainer Chad Feldheimer and his co-worker Linda Litzke and they plan to return the disc for a reward, with Linda hoping to use the money to pay for cosmetic surgery. After a phone call and subsequent meeting with Osbourne provoke a reaction, Chad. Osbournes increasingly temperamental and erratic behavior prompts Katie to change the locks on their house, a womanizer, Harry is coincidentally also seeing Linda. Linda persuades Chad to sneak into the Coxes home to get more files from their computer, Harry finds Chad hiding in a wardrobe and shoots him. Two days later at the CIA headquarters, Palmer Smith, Osbournes former superior and they are perplexed, the material delivered to the Russians is of no importance, and the apparent motive of all the involved parties is unknown. Harry argues with Katie and leaves the house, on his way out, he spots a man who has been trailing him for the past several days. Harry tackles the man and finds out that he is a detective hired by his wife Sandy to gather evidence to divorce him. Separately, it is revealed that Sandy is having an affair of her own, Harry is devastated and goes to see an agitated Linda, who confides to Harry that Chad is missing. Harry agrees to help find Chad, Linda returns to the Russian embassy to find Chad. The Russians have dismissed the CD contents as drivel, and escort Linda off the embassy grounds and she turns to Ted Treffon, the kindhearted manager of Hardbodies, who has unrequited feelings for her. Against his better judgement, Ted agrees to go to the Coxes home to search Osbournes computer, Harry and Linda meet in a park where Harry sees a man looking at Linda and asks her if she knows him. Linda denies knowing the man, which makes Harry suspicious, when Linda reveals the address where Chad disappeared, Harry realizes that Chad is the man he shot. Convinced that Linda is a spy and that everyone in the park is surveilling him, he panics, Osbourne becomes unhinged when he finds out that Katie has emptied his bank accounts and decides to break into the house to get his alcohol and personal belongings
7.
Wim Wenders
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Ernst Wilhelm Wim Wenders is a German filmmaker, playwright, author, photographer, and a major figure in New German Cinema. One of Wenders earliest honors was a win for the BAFTA Award for Best Direction for his narrative drama Paris, Texas, which also won the Palme dOr at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival. Many of his subsequent films have also recognized at Cannes, including Wings of Desire. Wenders has been the president of the European Film Academy in Berlin since 1996, alongside filmmaking, he is an active photographer, emphasizing images of desolate landscapes. Wenders was born in Düsseldorf into a traditionally Catholic family and his father, Heinrich Wenders, was a surgeon. The use of the Dutch name Wim is a version of the baptismal name Wilhelm/Willem. As a boy, he took unaccompanied trips to Amsterdam to visit the Rijksmuseum and he graduated from high school in Oberhausen in the Ruhr area. He then studied medicine and philosophy in Freiburg and Düsseldorf, however, he dropped out of university studies and moved to Paris in October 1966 to become a painter. Wenders failed his entry test at Frances national film school IDHEC, during this time, Wenders became fascinated with cinema, and saw up to five movies a day at the local movie theater. Set on making his obsession also his lifes work, Wenders returned to Germany in 1967 to work in the Düsseldorf office of United Artists and that fall, he entered the Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München. Between 1967 and 1970 while at the HFF, Wenders also worked as a critic for FilmKritik, then the Munich daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, Twen magazine. Wenders completed several films before graduating from the Hochschule with a feature-length 16mm black and white film. Wenders began his career during the New German Cinema era of the late 1960s, much of the distinctive cinematography in his movies is the result of a highly productive long-term collaboration with Dutch cinematographer Robby Müller. Handkes novel, The Goalies Anxiety at the Penalty Kick was adapted for Wenders second feature film, handke co-wrote the script for Wings of Desire and Until the End of the World, both featuring Solveig Dommartin. Wenders has directed several highly acclaimed documentaries, most notably Buena Vista Social Club, about Cuban musicians and he has also directed a documentary style film on the Skladanowsky brothers, known in English as A Trick of the Light. The Skladanowsky brothers were inventing moving pictures when several others like the Lumiere brothers, alongside Buena Vista Social Club also his documentaries on Pina Bausch, Pina, and Sebastiao Salgado, The Salt of the Earth, got him a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. He has also directed music videos for groups such as U2 and Talking Heads, including Stay and Sax. His television commercials include a UK advertisement for Carling Premier Canadian beer, Wenders is a member of the advisory board of World Cinema Foundation
8.
Leone d'Oro
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The Golden Lion is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the committee and is now regarded as one of the film industrys most distinguished prizes. In 1970, a second Golden Lion was introduced, this is an award for people who have made an important contribution to cinema. The prize was introduced in 1949 as the Golden Lion of Saint Mark, previously, the equivalent prize was the Gran Premio Internazionale di Venezia, awarded in 1947 and 1948. Before that, from 1934 until 1942, the highest awards were the Coppa Mussolini for Best Italian Film, no Golden Lions were awarded between 1969 and 1979. Sixty-eight produced a dramatic fracture with the past,14 French films have been awarded the Golden Lion, more than that of any other nation. However, there is considerable diversity in the winners. Five American filmmakers have won the Golden Lion, with awards for John Cassavetes and Robert Altman, as well as Ang Lee, Darren Aronofsky and Sofia Coppola. The Golden Lion, by contrast, has awarded to ten Asians during the same time period. Ang Lee won the Golden Lion twice within three years during the 2000s, once for an American film and once for a Chinese-language film, zhang Yimou has also won twice. Other Asians to win the Golden Lion since 1980 include Jia Zhangke, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Tsai Ming-liang, Trần Anh Hùng, Takeshi Kitano, Kim Ki-duk, Jafar Panahi, Mira Nair, and Lav Diaz. Russian filmmakers have won the Golden Lion several times, including since the end of the USSR. Still, to date 33 of the 54 winners were European men, since 1949 only four women have ever won the Golden Lion for directing, Mira Nair, Sofia Coppola, German Margarethe von Trotta and Belgiums Agnès Varda. In comparison to the other major Western European festivals, the Berlinales Golden Bear has also awarded to four women. In the history of Cannes, only one woman filmmaker has been awarded the Palme dOr
9.
The Wrestler (2009 film)
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The Wrestler is a 2008 American sports drama film co-produced and directed by Darren Aronofsky, written by Robert D. Siegel, and starring Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, and Evan Rachel Wood. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on April 21,2009 and it was released in the United Kingdom on June 1,2009. Rourke plays a professional wrestler who, despite his failing health and waning fame. He also tries to mend his relationship with his estranged daughter, the film received universal critical acclaim and won the Golden Lion Award at the 65th Venice International Film Festival, where it premiered. Film critic Roger Ebert called it one of the years best films, Tomei also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Robin Ramzinski, better known by his ring name Randy The Ram Robinson, is a wrestler who became a celebrity in the 1980s. A regular at a club, Randy befriends a stripper, Cassidy. After winning a match, Randy agrees to a proposed 20th anniversary rematch with his most notable opponent, The Ayatollah. Randy intensifies his training, which includes steroid injections, after wrestling in a hardcore match, Randy suffers a heart attack backstage and undergoes coronary artery bypass surgery. His doctor tells him that his heart can no longer handle the stress of wrestling, as a result, Randy decides to retire and begins working a full-time shift at the supermarkets deli counter. At Cassidys suggestion, Randy visits his estranged daughter Stephanie, whom he had abandoned when she was a child, while helping Randy buy a gift for Stephanie, Cassidy reveals that she has a son. Randy makes romantic advances toward her, which she rejects on the grounds of her job, later, Randy gives the gift to his daughter and apologizes for abandoning her. The two bond over a visit to a beachfront boardwalk, where he took her as a child, Randy goes to Cassidys strip club to thank her, but she once more rejects him, resulting in a heated exchange. Upset, Randy goes to see a match and finds solace in his wrestling friends. While at a bar with them, he gets drunk, snorts cocaine and has sex with a woman in the womens restroom and he sleeps the entire next day and misses his dinner with Stephanie. He goes to her house to apologize, but she tells him she never wants to see him again. At the deli counter, a patron recognizes Randy as the wrestler, the customer persists, which agitates Randy, who then cuts his hand on the delis slicer and goes into a rampage in the store, hurling abuse at Wayne and the customers. Spurred by the recognition of him and with nothing left, Randy decides to return to wrestling
10.
Darren Aronofsky
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Darren Aronofsky is an American film director, screenwriter, film producer and environmentalist. He has received acclaim, and generated controversy for his often surreal, Aronofsky attended Harvard University, where he studied film and social anthropology, and the American Film Institute where he studied directing. He won several awards after completing his senior thesis film, Supermarket Sweep. Aronofskys feature debut, the surrealist psychological thriller Pi, was shot in November 1997, Aronofskys followup, the psychological drama Requiem for a Dream, was based on the novel of the same name by Hubert Selby, Jr. The film garnered strong reviews and received an Academy Award nomination for Ellen Burstyns performance, after writing the World War II horror film Below, Aronofsky began production on his third film, the romantic fantasy sci-fi drama The Fountain. The film received mixed reviews and performed poorly at the box-office and his fourth film, the sports drama The Wrestler, was released to critical acclaim and both of the films stars, Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei, received Academy Award nominations. Aronofsky received nominations for Best Director at the Golden Globes, Aronofskys sixth film, the biblically inspired epic Noah, was released in theaters on March 28,2014. Noah grossed over $43.7 million during its box office weekend, becoming Aronofskys highest opening weekend. The film was an hit, eventually grossing over $362,000,000 worldwide. Aronofsky was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1969 and he grew up in the boroughs Manhattan Beach neighborhood, where he was raised culturally Jewish, but there was very little spiritual attendance in temple. It was a cultural thing—celebrating the holidays, knowing where you came from, knowing your history and he graduated from Edward R. Murrow High School. He has one sister, Patti, who attended a ballet school through high school. His parents would take him to Broadway theater performances, which sparked his keen interest in show business. During his youth, he trained as a field biologist with The School for Field Studies in Kenya in 1985 and he attended school in Kenya to pursue an interest in learning about ungulates. He later said, he School for Field Studies changed the way I perceived the world, Aronofskys interest in the outdoors led him to backpack his way through Europe and the Middle East. In 1987, he entered Harvard University, where he majored in anthropology and studied filmmaking. He became seriously interested in film while attending Harvard after befriending Dan Schrecker, an animator, and Sean Gullette. His cinematic influences included Akira Kurosawa, Roman Polanski, Terry Gilliam, Shinya Tsukamoto, Hubert Selby, Aronofskys senior thesis film, Supermarket Sweep, was a finalist in the 1991 Student Academy Awards
11.
Ermanno Olmi
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Ermanno Olmi is an Italian film director and screenwriter. Olmi was born in Bergamo, Lombardy and he is married to Loredana Detto, who played Antonietta Masetti in Il Posto. However, many neorealist directors also used non-professional actors for secondary, perhaps his best known film is The Tree of Wooden Clogs, which was awarded the Palme dOr at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival. In 1983 his film Walking, Walking was screened out of competition at Cannes. In 1988, his La leggenda del santo bevitore, based on the novella by Joseph Roth and starring Rutger Hauer and his The Profession of Arms also won a David di Donatello award. In 2008 he received the Honorary Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival
12.
Coen brothers
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Joel David Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen, collectively referred to as the Coen brothers, are American filmmakers. Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody and their best-reviewed works include Fargo, The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men, A Serious Man, True Grit, and Inside Llewyn Davis. The brothers write, direct, and produce their films jointly, although until The Ladykillers, Joel received sole credit for directing and they often alternate top billing for their screenplays while sharing film credits for editor under the alias Roderick Jaynes. The duo also won the Palme dOr for Barton Fink, and were nominated for Fargo, the Coen brothers have written a number of films that neither of the two directed. Ethan is also a writer of stories, theater. Their films No Country for Old Men, A Serious Man, Joel and Ethan Coen were born and raised in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. Their mother, Rena, was an art historian at St. Cloud State University, when they were children, Joel saved money from mowing lawns to buy a Vivitar Super 8 camera. Together, the brothers remade movies they saw on television, with a kid, Mark Zimering. Their first attempt was a romp entitled Henry Kissinger, Man on the Go, cornel Wildes The Naked Prey became their Zeimers in Zambia, which also featured Ethan as a native with a spear. Joel Coen has said, in regards to whether our background influences our film making, theres no doubt that our Jewish heritage affects how we see things. Joel and Ethan graduated from St. Louis Park High School in 1973 and 1976 and they both also graduated from Bard College at Simons Rock in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Joel then spent four years in the film program at New York University. Ethan went on to Princeton University and earned a degree in philosophy in 1979. His senior thesis was a 41-page essay, Two Views of Wittgensteins Later Philosophy, Joel has been married to actress Frances McDormand since 1984. They adopted a son from Paraguay, named Pedro McDormand Coen and she also did a voice-over in Barton Fink. Ethan married film editor Tricia Cooke in 1990 and they have two children, daughter Dusty and son Buster Jacob, who goes to Vassar College. Both couples live in New York, after graduating from New York University, Joel worked as a production assistant on a variety of industrial films and music videos. He developed a talent for film editing and met Sam Raimi while assisting Enda Ruth Paul in editing Raimis first feature film, in 1984, the brothers wrote and directed Blood Simple, their first commercial film together
13.
Academy Award
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The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze
14.
No Country for Old Men (film)
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No Country for Old Men is a 2007 American neo-western neo-noir thriller film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on Cormac McCarthys novel of the same name. A cat-and-mouse drama starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin, it follows a Texas welder, themes of fate, conscience, and circumstance are explored, ones that the Coen brothers have previously explored in the films Blood Simple and Fargo. No Country for Old Men premiered in competition at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival on May 19 and it won four awards at the 80th Academy Awards – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay. In addition, the film won three British Academy Film Awards including Best Director, and two Golden Globes, the American Film Institute listed it as an AFI Movie of the Year, and the National Board of Review selected the film as the best of 2007. More critics included No Country for Old Men on their 2007 top ten lists than any other film, in 2016, it was voted the 10th best film of the 21st century as picked by 177 film critics from around the world. In a neighboring county, Anton Chigurh, a hitman, strangles a sheriffs deputy to escape custody, Chigurh spares the life of a gas station owner after the owner accepts a challenge and correctly calls the result of Chigurhs coin flip. Hunting pronghorns in the desert, Llewelyn Moss comes across the aftermath of a deal gone awry. He finds several dead men and dogs, a wounded Mexican begging for water and he takes the money and returns home. That night, Moss returns to the scene with water and he is pursued by two men in a truck and escapes. At home, he sends his wife, Carla Jean, to stay with her mother, then drives to a motel in Del Rio, Chigurh, hired to recover the money, abruptly kills his employers after obtaining a clue to Mosss identity. Arriving to search Mosss home, he uses his pistol to blow the lock out of the door. Investigating the break in, Sheriff Bell notices the blown-out lock, using a tracking device hidden with the money, Chigurh goes to Mosss motel and kills a group of Mexicans who are preparing to ambush Moss in his room. Moss has rented a room adjacent to the Mexicans room with access to the same vent in which the money is hidden. He retrieves the briefcase just before Chigurh opens the vent and finds it empty, while staying at a hotel in Eagle Pass, Moss discovers the tracking device, but Chigurh has already found him. Their firefight spills onto the streets and both are wounded, Moss flees to Mexico, stashing the case of money in weeds along the Rio Grande. He asks for help from musicians, who take him to a hospital. Carson Wells, another hired operative, fails to persuade him to accept protection in return for the money, Chigurh cleans and stitches his own wounds with stolen supplies and kills Wells at his hotel. Moss telephones the room and Chigurh answers, lifting his boots to avoid Wellss blood, Chigurh tells Moss that he will kill Carla Jean unless Moss gives up the money, he remarks that he will kill Moss regardless of whether he receives the money
15.
Cannes Film Festival
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Founded in 1946, the invitation-only festival is held annually at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès. On 1 July 2014, co-founder and former head of French pay-TV operator Canal+ Pierre Lescure took over as President of the festival, the Board of Directors also appointed Gilles Jacob as Honorary President of the festival. The 2016 Cannes Film Festival took place between 11 and 22 May 2016, australian film director George Miller was the President of the Jury. I, Daniel Blake, directed by British director Ken Loach, in 2017, The Festival de Cannes will celebrate its 70th anniversary edition from May 17 to 28. In 1947, the festival was held as the Festival du film de Cannes, at that time the principle of equality was introduced, with a jury made up of only one representative per country. The festival is now held at the Palais des Festivals, expressly constructed for the occasion, although for its 1949 inaugural the roof was unfinished, the festival was not held in 1948 and 1950 on account of budgetary problems. Although its origins may be attributed in part to the French desire to compete with Autumns Venice Film Festival, in 1955, the Palme dOr was created, replacing the Grand Prix du Festival which had been given until that year. In 1957, Dolores del Rio was the first female member of the jury as a Sélection officielle – Member, in 1959, the Marché du Film was founded, giving the festival a commercial character and facilitating exchanges between sellers and buyers in the film industry. Today it has become the first international platform for film commerce, in 1962, the International Critics Week was born, created by the French Union of Film Critics as the first parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival. Its goal was to showcase first and second works by directors all over the world. In 1965, an hommage was paid to Jean Cocteau after his death, the next year, Olivia de Havilland was named the first female president of the festival. The 1968 festival was halted on 19 May, some directors, such as Carlos Saura and Miloš Forman, had withdrawn their films from the competition. The filmmakers achieved the reinstatement of the President, and they founded the Film Directors Society that same year, during the 1970s, important changes occurred in the Festival. In 1972, Robert Favre Le Bret was named the new President and he immediately introduced an important change in the selection of the participating films. Until that date, the different countries chose which films would represent them in the festival, Bessy created one committee to select French films, and another for foreign films. In 1978, Gilles Jacob assumed the President position, introducing the Caméra dOr award, in 1983, a new, much bigger Palais des Festivals et des Congrès was built to host the Festival. It was nicknamed The Bunker and provoked many reactions against it, in 1984, Pierre Viot replaced Robert Favre Le Bret as President of the Festival. It was not until 1995 that Gilles Jacob created the last section of the Official Selection and its aim was to support the creation of works of cinema in the world and to contribute to the entry of the new scenario writers in the circle of the celebrities
16.
Hollywood, California
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Hollywood is an ethnically diverse, densely populated neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It is notable as the home of the U. S. film industry, including several of its studios, and its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the industry. Hollywood was a community in 1870 and was incorporated as a municipality in 1903. It was consolidated with the city of Los Angeles in 1910, in 1853, one adobe hut stood in Nopalera, named for the Mexican Nopal cactus indigenous to the area. By 1870, an agricultural community flourished, the area was known as the Cahuenga Valley, after the pass in the Santa Monica Mountains immediately to the north. According to the diary of H. J. Whitley, known as the Father of Hollywood, along came a Chinese man in a wagon carrying wood. The man got out of the wagon and bowed, the Chinese man was asked what he was doing and replied, I holly-wood, meaning hauling wood. H. J. Whitley had an epiphany and decided to name his new town Hollywood, Holly would represent England and wood would represent his Scottish heritage. Whitley had already started over 100 towns across the western United States, Whitley arranged to buy the 500-acre E. C. Hurd ranch and disclosed to him his plans for the land. They agreed on a price and Hurd agreed to sell at a later date, before Whitley got off the ground with Hollywood, plans for the new town had spread to General Harrison Gray Otis, Hurds wife, eastern adjacent ranch co-owner Daeida Wilcox, and others. Daeida Wilcox may have learned of the name Hollywood from Ivar Weid, her neighbor in Holly Canyon and she recommended the same name to her husband, Harvey. In August 1887, Wilcox filed with the Los Angeles County Recorders office a deed and parcel map of property he had sold named Hollywood, Wilcox wanted to be the first to record it on a deed. The early real-estate boom busted that year, yet Hollywood began its slow growth. By 1900, the region had a post office, newspaper, hotel, Los Angeles, with a population of 102,479 lay 10 miles east through the vineyards, barley fields, and citrus groves. A single-track streetcar line ran down the middle of Prospect Avenue from it, but service was infrequent, the old citrus fruit-packing house was converted into a livery stable, improving transportation for the inhabitants of Hollywood. The Hollywood Hotel was opened in 1902 by H. J. Whitley who was a president of the Los Pacific Boulevard, having finally acquired the Hurd ranch and subdivided it, Whitley built the hotel to attract land buyers. Flanking the west side of Highland Avenue, the structure fronted on Prospect Avenue, the hotel was to become internationally known and was the center of the civic and social life and home of the stars for many years. Whitleys company developed and sold one of the residential areas
17.
Ang Lee
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Ang Lee OBS is a Taiwanese-born film director, screenwriter and producer. Lees earlier films, such as The Wedding Banquet, Pushing Hands, Lee also deals with repressed, hidden emotions in many of his films, including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Ice Storm, Hulk, and Brokeback Mountain. Lees work is known for its charge, which critics believe is responsible for his success in offsetting cultural barriers. Ang Lee was born in a Waishengren family, in a Military dependents village of the Republic of China Armed Forces located at Chaochou, Pingtung, both of Lees parents moved from Mainland China to Taiwan following the Chinese civil war in 1949. He grew up in a household that put emphasis on education. Lee studied in the Provincial Tainan First Senior High School where his father was the principal and he was expected to pass the annual Joint College/University Entrance Examination, the only route to a university education in Taiwan. But after failing the exam twice, to the disappointment of his father, he entered a college, the National Arts School. His father had wanted him to become a professor, but he had interested in drama. This early frustration set his career on the path of performance art, seeing Ingmar Bergmans film The Virgin Spring was a formative experience for him. Originally, Lee was interested in acting, but his challenges with speaking English made it difficult, at UIUC, Lee met his future wife Jane Lin, also a Taiwanese student, who pursued her Ph. D. degree. Thereupon, he enrolled at the Tisch School of the Arts of New York University and he was a classmate of Spike Lee and worked on the crew of his thesis film, Joes Bed-Stuy Barbershop, We Cut Heads. During graduate school, Lee finished a 16mm short film, Shades of the Lake and his own thesis work, a 43-minute drama, Fine Line, won NYUs Wasserman Award for Outstanding Direction and was later selected for the Public Broadcasting Service. Lees NYU thesis drew attention from the William Morris Agency, the famous talent, at first, though, WMA found Lee few opportunities, and Lee remained unemployed for six years. During this time, he was a full-time house-husband, while his wife Jane Lin and this arrangement put enormous pressure on the couple, but with Lins support and understanding, Lee did not abandon his career in film but continued to generate new ideas from movies and performances. He also wrote several screenplays during this time, in 1990, Lee submitted two screenplays, Pushing Hands and The Wedding Banquet, to a competition sponsored by Taiwans Government Information Office, and they came in first and second, respectively. The winning screenplays brought Lee to the attention of Li-Kong Hsu, Hsu, a first-time producer, invited Lee to direct Pushing Hands, a full-length feature that debuted in 1991. The Father Knows Best trilogy Pushing Hands was a success in Taiwan both among critics and at the box office and it received eight nominations in the Golden Horse Film Festival, Taiwans premier film festival. In all, this film collected eleven Taiwanese and international awards and these first two movies were based on stories of Chinese Americans, and both were filmed in the US
18.
Brokeback Mountain
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Brokeback Mountain is a 2005 American neo-western romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee and produced by Diana Ossana and James Schamus. Adapted from the 1997 short story of the name by Annie Proulx. The film received acclaim and commercial success. In 1963, Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist are hired by Joe Aguirre to herd his sheep through the summer in the Wyoming mountains, after a night of heavy drinking, Jack makes a pass at Ennis, who is initially hesitant but eventually responds to Jacks advances. Despite Ennis informing Jack that it was an incident, they develop a passionate sexual and emotional relationship. Shortly after discovering their summer together is being cut short, they briefly fight, after Jack and Ennis part ways, Ennis marries his longtime fiancé Alma Beers and has two daughters with her. Jack returns the next summer seeking work, but Aguirre, who observed Jack and Ennis on the mountain, Jack moves to Texas, where he meets, marries, and has a son with rodeo rider Lureen Newsome. After four years, Jack visits Ennis, upon meeting, the two kiss passionately, which Alma observes. Jack broaches the subject of creating a life together on a small ranch and he is also unwilling to abandon his family. Ennis and Jack continue to meet for infrequent fishing trips, the marriages of both men deteriorate. Lureen abandons the rodeo, going into business with her father, Alma and Ennis eventually divorce in 1975. Hearing about Ennis divorce, Jack drives to Wyoming and he suggests again that they should live together, but Ennis refuses to move away from his children. Jack finds solace with male prostitutes in Mexico, Ennis sees his family regularly until Alma finally confronts him about her knowing the true nature of his relationship with Jack. This results in a violent argument, causing Ennis to abandon his connections with Alma, Ennis meets and has a brief romantic relationship with Cassie Cartwright, a waitress. Jack and Lureen meet and befriend another couple, Randall and Lashawn Malone and it is implied that Jack begins an affair with Randall, although he later tells Ennis he had a relationship with a woman, who is assumed to be Lashawn. At the end of a fishing trip with Jack, Ennis tries to delay their next meeting. Jacks frustration erupts into argument, and Ennis blames Jack for being the cause of his own conflicted actions, Jack tries to hold him and there is a brief struggle, but they end up locked in an embrace. Jack watches as Ennis drives away, some time later, Ennis receives a postcard he had sent to Jack, stamped Deceased
19.
Natalie Portman
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Natalie Portman is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was in the 1994 action thriller Léon, The Professional and she was later cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Born in Jerusalem to an Israeli father and American mother, Portman grew up in the eastern United States from the age of three. She studied dancing and acting in New York, and starred in Star Wars, in 1999, Portman enrolled at Harvard University to study psychology, alongside her work as an actress, she completed a bachelors degree in 2003. During her studies she starred in a second Star Wars film and she played leading roles in the historical dramas Goyas Ghosts and The Other Boleyn Girl, and also appeared in Thor and its 2013 sequel. In 2010, Portman starred in the thriller film Black Swan. Her performance received critical acclaim and she earned her first Academy Award for Best Actress, her second Golden Globe Award, the SAG Award, the BAFTA Award. In 2016, she portrayed First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in the biographical drama Jackie and she was nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and won the BFCA for Best Actress. In May 2008, Portman served as the youngest member of the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival jury, the same year she directed a segment of the collective film New York, I Love You. Her first feature film as a director, A Tale of Love, Portman was born on June 9,1981 in Jerusalem. Her original given name was Neta-Lee, a Hebrew name and she is the only child of Shelley, an American homemaker who works as Portmans agent, and Avner Hershlag, an Israeli fertility specialist and gynecologist. Her maternal grandparents, Bernice and Arthur Stevens, were from Jewish families who moved to the United States from Austria and Russia, Natalies paternal grandparents, Mania and Zvi Yehuda Hershlag, were Jewish immigrants to Israel. Zvi, born in Poland in 1914, moved to what was then Mandatory Palestine in 1938 and eventually became an economics professor, One of Natalies paternal great-grandmothers was born in Romania and was a spy for British Intelligence during World War II. Portmans parents met at a Jewish student center at Ohio State University and they corresponded after her father returned to Israel and were married when her mother visited a few years later. In 1984, when Portman was three years old, the moved to the United States, where her father received his medical training. Portman, a citizen of the United States and Israel, has said that although she really love the States. Thats where I feel at home, Portman and her family first lived in Washington, D. C. but relocated to Connecticut in 1988 and then moved to Jericho, New York, on Long Island, in 1990. While living in the Washington, D. C. area, Portman attended Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Maryland
20.
Kseniya Rappoport
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Kseniya Aleksandrovna Rappoport is a Russian actress. She graduated in 2000 from Saint Petersburg Academy of Theatrical Arts and was invited to join the Maly Drama Theatre. She played Nina Zarechnaya in The Seagull, Elena in Uncle Vania and she starred in the Italian film La sconosciuta, Luomo che ama and in the Golden Lion nominated movie La doppia ora, for which she won Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the 66th Venice Film Festival. She made her debut in cinema at the age of 16 years, in 2008, Rappoport won the Jurev day prize of the festival Kinotavr for Best Actress, and in September 2009 she won the Double Hour prize of the Venice Film Festival for Best Actress. In December 2009, Rappoport was awarded the title Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, on June 27,2012, at the 58th International Film Festival in Taormina Rappoport awarded the prize Golden Lion, founded by the Province of Messina. At the 35th Moscow International Film Festival, she got awarded a special prize For conquest of tops of actors skill and loyalty to the principles of Stanislavsky school. In 2013, Rappoport won in the category Skill actor awarded the International Prize of Stanislavsky for the role of Lady Milford in the play Intrigue, rappoports father was Jewish, and she has stated that she never hid her Jewish ethnicity. Rappoport was married to Russian businessman Viktor Tarasov and their daughter is actress Darya Viktorovna Aglaya Tarasova, born 1994 in Saint Petersburg. She later married Russian actor Yuri Kolokolnikov, and they have a daughter Sofia, kseniya Rappoport at the Internet Movie Database Maly Drama Theatre – Theatre of Europe 14th Damascus International Film Festival Festa Internazionale di Roma
21.
Paris, Texas (film)
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Paris, Texas is a 1984 drama film directed by Wim Wenders and starring Harry Dean Stanton, Dean Stockwell, Nastassja Kinski, and Hunter Carson. The screenplay was written by L. M. Kit Carson and playwright Sam Shepard, the cinematography was by Robby Müller. The film was a co-production between companies in France and West Germany, and was filmed in the United States, the plot focuses on an amnesiac who, after mysteriously wandering out of the desert, attempts to reconnect with his brother and seven-year-old son. He and his son end up embarking on a voyage through the American Southwest to track down his long-missing wife. The film unanimously won the Palme dOr at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival from the jury, as well as the FIPRESCI Prize. The film has released on DVD and Blu-ray by the Criterion Collection. Travis Henderson is walking alone across a vast South Texas desert landscape, looking for water, he enters a saloon and collapses. He is treated by a doctor, but does not speak or respond to questions, the doctor finds a phone number on Travis, calls the Los Angeles number, and reaches his brother, Walt Henderson, who agrees to pick him up. When Walt arrives in Texas, he discovers that Travis is gone, when he finds him wandering alone, Walt tells his silent brother that he will take him back to Los Angeles. They stop at a motel, but Travis wanders off again, Walt finds him, and the two drive to a diner, where Walt begins to question the still silent Travis more forcefully about his disappearance. Walt and his wife, Anne, have not heard from Travis in four years, after Travis abandoned his son Hunter, Walt and Anne took care of him for four years. Travis is visibly moved by the mention of his son, when Travis refuses to fly, Walt rents a car, and the brothers begin a two-day road trip back to Los Angeles. The next day, as the two continue their journey, Travis shows Walt a weathered photograph of a vacant lot. He explains that he purchased the property in Paris, Texas, when they arrive in Los Angeles, Travis meets Anne and the son whom he abandoned four years earlier. Hunter is uncomfortable around this stranger who is his father, Walt shows some old home movies, hoping to evoke good memories and help break the ice between the father and son. The movies show Travis with his wife, Jane, and their young son, in the coming days, the relationship between Travis and his son slowly grows, and a bond of trust between the two starts to develop. Anne tells Travis that although she has not heard from Hunters mother for a long time and she reveals the name of the bank in Houston, where the deposits are made. Travis becomes determined to find his lost wife, and when he tells his son that he plans to travel to Houston to find his mother, Travis and Hunter leave for Texas without telling Walt and Anne
22.
Wings of Desire
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Wings of Desire is a 1987 Franco-German romantic fantasy film directed by Wim Wenders. The film is invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of the human inhabitants. Even though the city is populated, many of the people are isolated or estranged from their loved ones. One of the angels, played by Bruno Ganz, falls in love with a beautiful, the film is shot in both a rich, sepia-toned black-and-white and color, with the former being used to represent the world as experienced by the angels. Wim Wenders won best director award both at Cannes film festival and European film Awards for the film, the film was selected as the West German entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy award and BAFTA award, and was accepted as a nominee for the latter. The film has cult status and is included in Criterion Collection since 2009, the film was followed by a sequel - Faraway, So Close. in 1993. City of Angels, an American remake, was released in 1998 and their raison dêtre is, as Cassiel says, to assemble, testify, preserve reality. In addition to the story of two angels, the film is also a meditation on Berlins past, present, and future, Damiel and Cassiel have always existed as angels, they existed in Berlin before it was a city, and before there were even any humans. Among the Berliners they encounter in their wanderings is an old man named Homer, Cassiel follows the old man as he looks for the then-demolished Potsdamer Platz in an open field, and finds only the graffiti-covered Berlin Wall. She lives by herself in a caravan, dances alone to the music of Crime & the City Solution, a subplot follows Peter Falk, who has arrived in Berlin to make a film about Berlins Nazi past. When he sheds his immortal existence, he experiences life for the first time, he bleeds, sees colors for the first time, tastes food, meanwhile, Cassiel inadvertently taps into the mind of a young man just about to commit suicide by jumping off a building. Cassiel tries to save the man but is unable to do so. Eventually, Damiel meets the trapeze artist Marion at a bar, in the end, Damiel is united with the woman he has desired for so long. The film ends with the message, To be continued, the story is concluded in Wenders 1993 sequel, In weiter Ferne, so nah. The director also employed Peter Handke, who wrote much of the dialogue, the poetic narrations, and the films recurring poem Song of Childhood. The movie was made with a minimalist script, it is a mood piece exploring people, the city, and a concept, Peter Falk wasnt meant to be a sketch artist until Wenders discovered Falks talent. Bruno Ganz and Otto Sander were cast because they were old friends, the film was shot by the 77-year-old cinematographer Henri Alekan, who had worked on Jean Cocteaus La Belle et la Bête. It represents the point of view in monochrome -- they cannot see colors --
23.
Youssef Chahine
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Youssef Chahine was an Egyptian film director, he was active in the Egyptian film industry from 1950 until his death. A winner of the Cannes 50th Anniversary Award, Chahine was credited with launching the career of actor Omar Sharif, Chahine was born in Alexandria, Egypt to a Roman Catholic family. His father was an attorney from Assiut, Egypt and was a supporter of the nationalist Wafd Party, in 2001, his mother, Claire Bastorous was a tailor. Although Chahine was raised Catholic, he was not a believer in organized religion, if asked of his religion, he would state, Egyptian. At home, the Chahines spoke five languages, which was common in cosmopolitan Alexandria at the time, fascinated by the performing arts from an early age, young Chahine began to create shows at home for his family. Chahine began his education at a Frères school Collège Saint Marc, growing up, he attended Alexandrias elite Victoria College. In 1946, Chahine convinced his parents to let him travel to Hollywood to study acting, after returning to Egypt, he turned his attention to directing. Cinematographer Alvise Orfanelli helped Chahine into the film business, one year later, with Nile Boy he was first invited to the Cannes Film Festival. Sira’ fi-l-Wadi introduced Omar Sharif to the cinematic screen, in 1970 he was awarded a Golden Tanit at the Carthage Film Festival for al-Ikhtiyar. With The Sparrow, in which he showed his political opinions after the Six Day War with Israel and he won the Silver Bear – Special Jury Priz at the 29th Berlin International Film Festival for Alexandria. The first instalment in what would prove to be a quartet, completed with An Egyptian Story, Alexandria, Again and Again. The producer Humbert Balsan went to Cannes in 2004 with Alexandria, New York, his ninth film with the Egyptian director since 1985s Adieu, Bonaparte. About his work, Chahine has said, I make my films first for myself, then for Egypt, Chahine once famously said. If the Arab world likes them, ahlan wa sahlan, if the foreign audience likes them, they are doubly welcome. Chahine’s early films in Egypt included Raging Sky, begun while Farouk was still King and dealing with a peasant farmer’s challenge to a feudal landlord, but the first truly indicative film of his style and preoccupations was Cairo Station, in 1958. Chahine himself plays the character, Kenaoui, a simple-minded man. With unthinking but affectionate playfulness Hanouma exacerbates Kenaoui’s frustration and adds to his confusion which leads to death, Egyptian audiences, used to simpler melodramas, were disturbed and rejected the film. It was not seen again for some 20 years and it was scripted by Naguib Mahfouz and the poet and progressive writer, Abderrahman Cherkaoui, and a parallel between Saladin and President Nasser, a champion of pan-Arabism, is easily drawn
24.
Fred Astaire
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Fred Astaire was an American dancer, singer, actor, choreographer and television presenter. His stage and subsequent film and television careers spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films and several television specials, Astaire was ranked by the American Film Institute as the fifth greatest male star of Classic Hollywood cinema in 100 Years. Gene Kelly, another star in filmed dance, said that the history of dance on film begins with Astaire, later, he asserted that Astaire was the only one of todays dancers who will be remembered. Astaire was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Johanna Ann, Astaires mother was born in the United States to Lutheran German immigrants from East Prussia and Alsace. Astaires father was born in Linz, Austria, to Jewish parents who had converted to Roman Catholicism, Astaires mother dreamed of escaping Omaha by virtue of her childrens talents, after Astaires sister, Adele Astaire, early on revealed herself to be an instinctive dancer and singer. She planned a brother and sister act, which was common in vaudeville at the time, although Astaire refused dance lessons at first, he easily mimicked his older sisters steps and took up piano, accordion, and clarinet. Despite Adele and Freds teasing rivalry, they acknowledged their individual strengths, his durability. Fred and Adeles mother suggested they change their name to Astaire, Family legend attributes the name to an uncle surnamed LAstaire. They were taught dance, speaking, and singing in preparation for developing an act and their first act was called Juvenile Artists Presenting an Electric Musical Toe-Dancing Novelty. Fred wore a top hat and tails in the first half, in an interview, Astaires daughter, Ava Astaire McKenzie, observed that they often put Fred in a top hat to make him look taller. The goofy act debuted in Keyport, New Jersey, in a tryout theater, the local paper wrote, the Astaires are the greatest child act in vaudeville. As a result of their fathers salesmanship, Fred and Adele rapidly landed a contract and played the famed Orpheum Circuit in the Midwest, Western. Soon Adele grew to at least three inches taller than Fred and the pair began to look incongruous. The family decided to take a break from show business to let time take its course and to avoid trouble from the Gerry Society. In 1912, Fred became an Episcopalian, the career of the Astaire siblings resumed with mixed fortunes, though with increasing skill and polish, as they began to incorporate tap dancing into their routines. Astaires dancing was inspired by Bill Bojangles Robinson and John Bubbles Sublett, from vaudeville dancer Aurelio Coccia, they learned the tango, waltz, and other ballroom dances popularized by Vernon and Irene Castle. Some sources state that the Astaire siblings appeared in a 1915 film titled Fanchon, the Cricket, starring Mary Pickford, by age 14, Fred had taken on the musical responsibilities for their act. He first met George Gershwin, who was working as a song plugger for Jerome H. Remicks music publishing company, Fred had already been hunting for new music and dance ideas
25.
Kathryn Bigelow
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Kathryn Ann Bigelow is an American film director, producer, and writer. The Hurt Locker won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Picture and the BAFTA Award for Best Film and she also became the first woman to win the Saturn Award for Best Director in 1995 for Strange Days. In April 2010, Bigelow was named to the Time 100 list of most influential people of the year, Bigelow was born in San Carlos, California, the only child of Gertrude Kathryn, a librarian, and Ronald Elliot Bigelow, a paint factory manager. Her mother was of Norwegian descent, Bigelows early creative endeavors were as a student of painting. She enrolled at San Francisco Art Institute in the fall of 1970, while enrolled at SFAI, she was accepted into the Whitney Museum of American Arts Independent Study Program in New York City. Bigelows early work benefited from her apprenticeships with Vito Acconci, Richard Serra, also in her early days in Manhattan, Bigelow teamed up with Philip Glass on a real-estate venture in which the pair personally renovated distressed apartments downtown then sold them for a profit. Bigelow entered the film program at Columbia University, where she studied theory and criticism. She also taught at the California Institute of the Arts, Bigelows short The Set-Up is a 20-minute deconstruction of violence in film. The film portrays two men fighting each other as the semioticians Sylvère Lotringer and Marshall Blonsky deconstruct the images in voice-over, Bigelow asked her actors to actually beat and bludgeon each other throughout the films all-night shoot. Her first full-length feature was The Loveless, a film which she co-directed with Monty Montgomery. Next, she directed Near Dark, which she co-scripted with Eric Red, in the same year, she directed a music video for the New Order song Touched by the Hand of God, the video is a spoof of glam metal imagery. Bigelows subsequent trilogy of action films — Blue Steel, Point Break, in the process, Bigelow became recognizable as both a Hollywood brand and an auteur. All three films rethink the conventions of action cinema while exploring gendered and racial politics, Eric Red was also co-writer on Bigelows 1990 film, Blue Steel. Blue Steel starred Jamie Lee Curtis as a police officer who is stalked by a psychopathic killer. This is perhaps due to the fact that it most successfully conforms to its genre and abandons much of the stylistic substance. In 1993, she directed an episode of the TV series Wild Palms, Bigelows 1995 film Strange Days was written and produced by her ex-husband James Cameron. Despite some positive reviews, the film was a commercial failure, furthermore, many attributed the creative vision to James Cameron, diminishing Bigelows perceived influence on the film. She directed episodes of Homicide, Life on the Street in 1997 and 1998, based on Anita Shreves novel of the same name, Bigelows 2000 film The Weight of Water is a portrait of two women trapped in suffocating relationships
26.
The Hurt Locker
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The Hurt Locker is a 2009 American war thriller film about an Iraq War Explosive Ordnance Disposal team who are being targeted by insurgents with booby traps, remote control detonations and ambushes. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, it stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, the film shows soldiers varying psychological reactions to the stress of combat, which though intolerable to some, is addictive to others. The story unfolds after a staff sergeant is killed by an insurgent trap and his comrades suspect that their new team leader is being driven to take terrifying risks. Writer Mark Boal drew on his experience during embedded access to provide a background for the production. The Hurt Locker received widespread acclaim and won six Academy Awards. Bigelow won the award for Best Director, as of 2017 and his team includes Sergeant J. T. Sanborn and Specialist Owen Eldridge. His maverick disposal methods and attitude lead to Sanborn and Eldridge considering him reckless, meanwhile, James is often approached by an Iraqi youth named Beckham attempting to sell DVDs. James challenges him to a game of soccer and takes a liking to him, when they are assigned to destroy some explosives, James returns to the detonation site to pick up his gloves. Sanborn openly contemplates killing him by accidentally triggering the explosion, making Eldridge somewhat uncomfortable, returning to Camp Victory in their Humvee, the team encounters five armed men in traditional Arab garb and casual attire standing near a Ford Excursion, which has a flat tire. James team has an encounter with their leader, who then reveals they are private military contractors. They have captured two prisoners featured on the most-wanted Iraqi playing cards, the entire group suddenly comes under fire, and when the prisoners attempt to escape in the confusion, the leader of the mercenaries remembers the bounty for them is dead or alive and shoots them. Enemy snipers kill three of the mercenaries, including their leader, Sanborn and James borrow a Barrett.50 cal to dispatch three attackers, while Eldridge kills a fourth. During a raid on a warehouse, James discovers the body of a young boy, during evacuation, Lieutenant Colonel John Cambridge, the camps psychiatrist and a friend of Eldridges, is killed in an explosion, Eldridge blames himself for his death. Later, James breaks into the house of an Iraqi professor, seeking revenge for Beckham, called to a petrol tanker detonation, James decides on his own to hunt for the insurgents responsible, guessing they are still nearby. Sanborn protests, but when James heads out, he and Eldridge reluctantly follow, after they split up, insurgents capture Eldridge. James and Sanborn rescue him, but accidentally shoot him in the leg, the following morning, James is approached by Beckham, who he believed was dead, and walks by without saying a word. Before being airlifted for surgery elsewhere, Eldridge angrily blames James for his injury, James and Sanborns unit is called to another mission in their last two days of their rotation. An innocent Iraqi civilian man has had a bomb vest strapped to his chest, James tries to cut off the locks to remove the vest, but there are too many of them
27.
Explosive ordnance disposal
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Bomb disposal is the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. Bomb disposal does not encompass the remediation of soils polluted with explosive materials, the first professional civilian bomb squad was established by Sir Vivian Dering Majendie. In 1875, he framed The Explosives Act, the first modern legislation for explosives control and he also pioneered many bomb disposal techniques, including remote methods for the handling and dismantling of explosives. His advice during the Fenian dynamite campaign of 1881-85 was officially recognised as having contributed to the saving of lives, after Victoria Station was bombed on 26 February 1884 he defused a bomb with a clockwork mechanism which might have gone off at any moment. The New York City Police Department established its first bomb squad in 1903, known as the Italian Squad, its primary mission was to deal with dynamite bombs used by the Mafia to intimidate immigrant Italian merchants and residents. It would later be known as the Anarchist Squad and the Radical Squad, Bomb Disposal became a formalized practice in the First World War. The swift mass production of munitions led to manufacturing defects. These were hazardous to attacker and defender alike, in response, the British dedicated a section of Ordnance Examiners from the Royal Army Ordnance Corps to handle the growing problem. In 1918, the Germans developed delayed-action fuzes that would develop into more sophisticated versions during the 1930s. These tests led to the development of UXBs, pioneered by Herbert Ruehlemann of Rheinmetall, such delayed-action bombs provoked terror in the civilian population because of the uncertainty of time, and also complicated the task of disarming them. The Germans saw that unexploded bombs caused far more chaos and disruption than bombs that exploded immediately and this caused them to increase their usage of delayed-action bombs in World War II. This trend of cat-and-mouse extends even to the present day, modern EOD Technicians across the world can trace their heritage to the Blitz, when the United Kingdoms cities were subjected to extensive bombing raids by Nazi Germany. In addition to air raids, unexploded bombs took their toll on population and morale, paralyzing vital services. Bombs fitted with delayed-action fuzes provoked fear and uncertainty in the civilian population, the first UXBs were encountered in the autumn of 1939 before the Blitz and were for the most part easily dealt with, mostly by Royal Air Force or Air Raid Precautions personnel. In the spring of 1940, when the Phony War ended,25 sections were authorized for the Royal Engineers in May 1940, another 109 in June, and 220 by August. Organization was needed, and as the Blitz began,25 Bomb Disposal Companies were created between August 1940 and January 1941, each company had ten sections, each section having a bomb disposal officer and 14 other ranks to assist. Six companies were deployed in London by January 1941, Bomb fuzes incorporating anti-handling devices were specifically designed to kill bomb disposal personnel. Scientists and technical staff responded by devising methods and equipment to render them safe, the next year, the Office of Civilian Defense and War Department both sponsored a bomb disposal program
28.
Golden Lion
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The Golden Lion is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the committee and is now regarded as one of the film industrys most distinguished prizes. In 1970, a second Golden Lion was introduced, this is an award for people who have made an important contribution to cinema. The prize was introduced in 1949 as the Golden Lion of Saint Mark, previously, the equivalent prize was the Gran Premio Internazionale di Venezia, awarded in 1947 and 1948. Before that, from 1934 until 1942, the highest awards were the Coppa Mussolini for Best Italian Film, no Golden Lions were awarded between 1969 and 1979. Sixty-eight produced a dramatic fracture with the past,14 French films have been awarded the Golden Lion, more than that of any other nation. However, there is considerable diversity in the winners. Five American filmmakers have won the Golden Lion, with awards for John Cassavetes and Robert Altman, as well as Ang Lee, Darren Aronofsky and Sofia Coppola. The Golden Lion, by contrast, has awarded to ten Asians during the same time period. Ang Lee won the Golden Lion twice within three years during the 2000s, once for an American film and once for a Chinese-language film, zhang Yimou has also won twice. Other Asians to win the Golden Lion since 1980 include Jia Zhangke, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Tsai Ming-liang, Trần Anh Hùng, Takeshi Kitano, Kim Ki-duk, Jafar Panahi, Mira Nair, and Lav Diaz. Russian filmmakers have won the Golden Lion several times, including since the end of the USSR. Still, to date 33 of the 54 winners were European men, since 1949 only four women have ever won the Golden Lion for directing, Mira Nair, Sofia Coppola, German Margarethe von Trotta and Belgiums Agnès Varda. In comparison to the other major Western European festivals, the Berlinales Golden Bear has also awarded to four women. In the history of Cannes, only one woman filmmaker has been awarded the Palme dOr
29.
The Wrestler (2008 film)
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The Wrestler is a 2008 American sports drama film co-produced and directed by Darren Aronofsky, written by Robert D. Siegel, and starring Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, and Evan Rachel Wood. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on April 21,2009 and it was released in the United Kingdom on June 1,2009. Rourke plays a professional wrestler who, despite his failing health and waning fame. He also tries to mend his relationship with his estranged daughter, the film received universal critical acclaim and won the Golden Lion Award at the 65th Venice International Film Festival, where it premiered. Film critic Roger Ebert called it one of the years best films, Tomei also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Robin Ramzinski, better known by his ring name Randy The Ram Robinson, is a wrestler who became a celebrity in the 1980s. A regular at a club, Randy befriends a stripper, Cassidy. After winning a match, Randy agrees to a proposed 20th anniversary rematch with his most notable opponent, The Ayatollah. Randy intensifies his training, which includes steroid injections, after wrestling in a hardcore match, Randy suffers a heart attack backstage and undergoes coronary artery bypass surgery. His doctor tells him that his heart can no longer handle the stress of wrestling, as a result, Randy decides to retire and begins working a full-time shift at the supermarkets deli counter. At Cassidys suggestion, Randy visits his estranged daughter Stephanie, whom he had abandoned when she was a child, while helping Randy buy a gift for Stephanie, Cassidy reveals that she has a son. Randy makes romantic advances toward her, which she rejects on the grounds of her job, later, Randy gives the gift to his daughter and apologizes for abandoning her. The two bond over a visit to a beachfront boardwalk, where he took her as a child, Randy goes to Cassidys strip club to thank her, but she once more rejects him, resulting in a heated exchange. Upset, Randy goes to see a match and finds solace in his wrestling friends. While at a bar with them, he gets drunk, snorts cocaine and has sex with a woman in the womens restroom and he sleeps the entire next day and misses his dinner with Stephanie. He goes to her house to apologize, but she tells him she never wants to see him again. At the deli counter, a patron recognizes Randy as the wrestler, the customer persists, which agitates Randy, who then cuts his hand on the delis slicer and goes into a rampage in the store, hurling abuse at Wayne and the customers. Spurred by the recognition of him and with nothing left, Randy decides to return to wrestling
30.
Barbet Schroeder
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Barbet Schroeder is an Iranian-born film director and producer who started his career in French cinema in the 1960s, working together with directors such as Jean-Luc Godard and Jacques Rivette. Since the 1990s he has directed many big budget Hollywood films in which he often combined family drama with thriller, Schroeder was born in Tehran, Iran, the son of Ursula, a German-born physician, and Jean-William Schroeder, a Swiss geologist. Both he and his family left Iran for France, where he studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, schroeders production company Les Films du Losange, founded by him at age 23, produced some of the best-known films of the French New Wave. His directorial debut, More, about heroin addiction, became a hit in Europe, pink Floyd wrote music for this movie and released the album, More. They also wrote the soundtrack for his 1972 film La Vallée, released as the album Obscured by Clouds. as a hair products salesman in Paris, je taime, today he resides in France and is married to actress Bulle Ogier. Schroeder directed the 12th episode of the 3rd season of the American dramatic television series Mad Men that first aired on 1 November 2009, the episode was entitled The Grown Ups, and was notable for its depiction of the events of the Kennedy assassination. edition-lettmotif. com/produit/barbet-schroeder/
31.
Hayao Miyazaki
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Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, author, and manga artist. Born in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Miyazaki began his career in 1963 when he joined Toei Animation. From there, Miyazaki worked as an in-between artist for Gullivers Travels Beyond the Moon, Hayao Miyazaki was also associated with Tokyo Movie Shinsha. He co-directed Lupin III with Isao Takahata, provided the screenplay and he continued to work in various roles in the animation industry with various studios until he directed his first feature film, The Castle of Cagliostro, a Lupin the Third story, released in 1979. After the success of his film, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, he co-founded Studio Ghibli. While Miyazakis films have enjoyed both commercial and critical success in Japan, he remained largely unknown to the West until Miramax Films released Princess Mononoke in 1997. Miyazakis next film, Spirited Away, won Picture of the Year at the Japanese Academy Awards, Miyazakis films often contain recurrent themes, like humanitys relationship with nature and technology, and the difficulty of maintaining a pacifist ethic. His films protagonists are often strong girls or young women, Miyazakis newest film The Wind Rises was released on July 20,2013 and screened internationally in February 2014. The film would go on to him his third American Academy Award nomination. Miyazaki announced on September 1,2013 that The Wind Rises would be his final feature-length movie, in November 2014, Miyazaki was awarded an Honorary Academy Award for his impact on animation and cinema. He is the second Japanese filmmaker to win this award, after Akira Kurosawa in 1990, in 2002, American film critic Roger Ebert suggested that Miyazaki may be the best animation filmmaker in history, praising the depth and artistry of his films. Miyazaki was born in the town of Akebono-cho in Bunkyō, Tokyo and his father was director of Miyazaki Airplane, which made rudders for A6M Zero fighter planes during World War II. During the war, when Miyazaki was only three old, the family evacuated to Utsunomiya and later to Kanuma in Tochigi Prefecture where the Miyazaki Airplane factory was located. For fifth grade, he went to the new Eifuku Elementary School, Miyazaki graduated from Eifuku and attended Omiya Junior High. During this time, Miyazakis mother suffered from tuberculosis and was bedridden from 1947 until 1955. She spent the first few years mostly in the hospital, but was able to be nursed from home. Miyazaki aspired to become an author from an early age. He read the stories in boys magazines and acknowledges the influences of creative artists of the medium, such as Tetsuji Fukushima, Soji Yamakawa
32.
New Line Cinema
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New Line Cinema is an American film studio that was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as a film distribution company, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of the Turner Broadcasting System in 1994 before Turner merged with Time Warner in 1996, currently, its films are distributed by Warner Bros. New Line Cinema was established in 1967 by the then 27-year-old Robert Shaye as a distribution company, supplying foreign. Shaye operated New Lines offices out of his apartment at 14th Street, one of the companys early successes was its distribution of the 1936 anti-cannabis propaganda film Reefer Madness, which became a cult hit on American college campuses in the early 1970s. New Line also released many classic films, like Stay As You Are, Immoral Tales. The studio has released many of the films of John Waters. In 1976, New Line secured funding to produce its first full-length feature, Stunts, although not considered a critical success, the film performed well commercially on the international market and on television. New Line then produced or co-produced three more films in 1981 and 1983, Alone in the Dark, Xtro and Polyester, a Nightmare on Elm Street was produced and released by New Line in 1984. The resulting franchise was New Lines first commercially successful series after a financial slump. The film was made on a budget of $1.8 million and it was the first film to feature the actor Johnny Depp. A year later, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2, Freddys Revenge was released, and grossed $3.3 million in its first three days of release and over $30 million at the domestic box office. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, Dream Warriors was released in 1987, in November 1990, New Line purchased a 52% stake in the television production company RHI Entertainment, which would later be sold to Hallmark Cards. In May 1991, New Line purchased the video and foreign rights to 600 films held by Sultan Entertainment Holdings. The deal also included an 11-film distribution deal with Turner subsidiary Castle Rock Entertainment, on November 27,1991, New Line purchased Sultan outright. On January 28,1994, New Line Cinema was acquired by the Turner Broadcasting System, New Line Cinema was kept as its own separate entity, while fellow Turner-owned studios Hanna-Barbera Productions and Castle Rock Entertainment eventually became units of Warner Bros. In 2007, New Line Cinema and Castle Rock Entertainment collaborated on the 2007 film Fracture, during its time as an entity separate from Warner Bros. New Line Cinema operated several divisions, including distribution, marketing. It was also a partner in founding a new company named Picturehouse in 2005
33.
African cinema
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African cinema is film production in Africa. It dates back to the early 20th century, when film reels were the primary technology in use. The Nigerian film industry is the largest in Africa in terms of value, number of films, revenue. It is also the second and third largest national film industry in the world, based on the number of annual films, during the colonial era, Africa was represented exclusively by Western filmmakers. The continent was portrayed as a land without history or culture. In the mid-1930s, the Bantu Educational Kinema Experiment was conducted in order to educate the Bantu, in the French colonies Africans were legally prohibited from making films of their own. The ban stunted the growth of film as a means for Africans to express themselves politically, culturally, and artistically. Vieyra was trained in filmmaking at the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques in Paris, afrique Sur Seine explores the difficulties of being an African in France during the 1950s and is considered to be the first film directed by a black African. Before independence, only a few films were produced. Also doing film work in Africa during this time was the French ethnographic filmmaker, Jean Rouch, his work was controversial with French, the first African film to win international recognition was Sembène Ousmanes La Noire de. also known as Black Girl. It showed the despair of an African woman who has to work as a maid in France, the writer Sembène had turned to cinema to reach a wider audience. He is still considered to be the father of African cinema, sembènes native country Senegal continued to be the most important place of African film production for more than a decade. With the creation of the African film festival FESPACO in Burkina Faso in 1969, FESPACO now takes place every two years in alternation with the film festival Carthago in. The Pan African Federation of Filmmakers was formed in 1969 in order to focus attention on the promotion of African film industries in terms of production, distribution and exhibition. From its inception, FEPACI was seen as a partner organization to the Organisation of African Unity. FEPACI looks at the role of film in the politico-economic and cultural development of African states, med Hondos Soleil O, shot in 1969, was immediately recognized. No less politically engaged than Sembène, he chose a more controversial filmic language to show what it means to be a stranger in France with the skin colour. Souleymane Cissés Yeelen and Cheick Oumar Sissokos Guimba were well received in the west, some critics criticized the filmmakers for adapting to the exotic tastes of western audiences
34.
Haile Gerima
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Haile Gerima is an Ethiopian filmmaker who lives and works in the United States. He is a member of the L. A. Rebellion film movement. His films have received international acclaim. Since 1975, Gerima has also been a film professor at Howard University in Washington. He is best known for Sankofa, which won international awards. Haile Gerima was born and raised in Gondar, Ethiopia and his father was a dramatist and playwright, who traveled across the Ethiopian countryside staging local plays. He was an important early influence, Gerima emigrated to the United States in 1968 to study theatre. He enrolled in acting classes at the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago, film making isnt encouraged or supported by the Ethiopian government. He felt limited by theater and was resigned, notes Francoise Pfaff, in 1970 he moved to California to attend the University of California, where he earned Bachelors and Masters of Fine Arts degrees in film. He was part of a generation of new filmmakers who became known as the Los Angeles School of Black filmmakers, along with Charles Burnett, Jamaa Fanaka, Ben Caldwell, Larry Clark. The film is the story of Dorothy and her husband T. C, a discharged Vietnam veteran who anticipated a heros welcome on his return. He is arrested and imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, theirs is a world of welfare, perennial unemployment, and despair. The film has stark black-and-white photography, but its message is moving and it addresses issues of institutionalized racism, police brutality, and poverty, these remain pertinent. For the production of Mirt Sost Shi Amit Gerima returned to his native Ethiopia and it is an account of a poor peasant family who eke out an existence within a brutal, exploitative, and feudal system of labor. The travails of Black urban life in the United States are explored in the two-hour Ashes and Embers, after Winter, Sterling Brown is a documentary about the notable Black American poet. Gerima is perhaps best known as the writer, producer, the film attracted huge audiences across the United States, many of whom waited in long lines and filled theaters for weeks on end. The film subverted a notion that only mainstream distributors could attract audiences for filmmakers, guided by an independent philosophy, Gerima practiced an innovative strategy in distribution whose success remains unprecedented in African-American film history. The film opens with the statement, Spirit of the dead, rise up and it presents a brutally realistic portrayal of African slavery
35.
Takeshi Kitano
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Takeshi Kitano is a Japanese comedian, television personality, director, actor, author, and screenwriter. While he is primarily as a comedian and TV host in his native Japan. With the exception of his works as a director, he is known almost exclusively by the stage name Beat Takeshi. Kitano rose to prominence in the 1970s as one half of the comedy duo Two Beat, before going solo, after several small acting roles, he made his directorial debut with 1989s Violent Cop and garnered international acclaim for Sonatine. But he was not accepted as a director in Japan until Hana-bi won the Golden Lion in 1997, in December 2016, it was announced that Kitanos first crime trilogy for the Outrage series would be completed in 2017 with Outrage, Final Chapter in post-production as of April 2017. Many of Kitanos films are dramas about yakuza gangsters or the police, many of his films express a bleak or nihilistic philosophy, but they are also filled with humor and affection for their characters. Takeshi Kitano was born in Adachi, Tokyo with two brothers and an older sister. His father worked as a painter, with Kitano revealing that he was also possibly a yakuza, while his mother was a strict disciplinarian. In his working-class neighborhood, the children looked up to players and yakuza. Kitano entered Meiji University and studied engineering, before dropping out at age 19 and he went to the Asakusa district in 1972 to become a comedian. While working as an operator at the Asakusa France-za striptease, he became an apprentice of its comedian Senzaburo Fukami. In the 1970s, he formed a duo with his friend Nirō Kaneko. They took on the stage names Beat Takeshi and Beat Kiyoshi and this sort of duo comedy, known as manzai in Japan, usually features a great deal of high-speed back-and-forth banter between the two performers. Kiyoshi played the man against Takeshis funny man. In 1976, they performed on television for the first time and became a success, the reason for their popularity had much to do with Kitanos material, which was much more risqué than traditional manzai. The targets of his jokes were often the socially vulnerable, including the elderly, the handicapped, the poor, children, women, the ugly, complaints to the broadcaster led to censorship of some of Kitanos jokes and the editing of offensive dialogue. Kitano confirmed in a interview that he was forbidden to access the NHK studios for five years for having exposed his body during a show when it was totally forbidden. Although Two Beat was one of the most successful acts of its kind during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Kitano decided to go solo, together with Sanma Akashiya and Tamori, Kitano is said to be one of the Big Three television comedians of Japan
36.
Hana-bi
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Hana-bi, released in the United States as Fireworks, is a 1997 Japanese film written, directed and edited by Takeshi Kitano, who also stars in it. The films score was composed by Joe Hisaishi in his collaboration with Kitano. Hana-bi is the Japanese word for fireworks, the unexpected international success of Hana-bi, coupled with Sonatines critical acclaim, established Kitano as one of the foremost Japanese filmmakers of his time. Becoming unemployed, Nishi spends most of his taking care of his sick wife Miyuki. The film moves at a pace and devotes much time to exploring their relationship. Miyuki also suffers after the death of their child, to pay for his wifes needs, Nishi borrows money from the yakuza but is having difficulty repaying them. Meanwhile, Horiba, whom the accident left in a wheelchair and his marriage quickly breaks up, so now he lives alone. In a conversation with Nishi, Horiba hints he considered committing suicide, while adding that he would like to paint, Nishi buys a second-hand taxi cab and repaints it in police colors. He arms himself with a revolver and commits an audacious bank robbery dressed as a cop. He gives money to Tanakas widow and buys inks and papers for Horiba who takes up painting, Nishi then starts a journey to historical sites with his wife, both of them know they will not return. Detective Nakamura learns about the gift for Tanakas widow, advising her to keep the money and he also learns about the paints for Horiba and soon understands who committed the robbery. Meanwhile, guessing who may be behind the robbery, the yakuza thugs chase Nishi to extort money from him. Eventually, the men find Nishi, but he kills them all in a violent shootout. At the same time, Nishi is found by Nakamura, who wants to arrest Nishi for the robbery, Nishi asks Nakamura to spare him a moment of time and sits down on the beach next to his wife, who suddenly says to him, Thank you. Then two gunshots are heard behind the scene, so viewers may guess that Nishi shot his wife, in reality, these paintings were painted by Kitano himself, whilst in recovery from an infamous motorcycle accident in August 1994 that left half of his face paralyzed. Kitanos daughter and former singer, Shoko Kitano, makes an appearance playing a nameless girl flying a kite in the films closing scenes. The films title is listed as Hana-bi, hana-bi or Hanabi on the covers of international DVD releases. However, the title is actually HANA-BI, fully capitalized
37.
Claire Denis
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Claire Denis is a French film director and writer. Her work has dealt with themes of colonial and post-colonial West Africa, Denis was born in Paris, but raised in colonial French Africa, where her father was a civil servant, living in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, French Somaliland, and Senegal. Her childhood spent living in West Africa with her parents and her sister would color her perspectives on certain political issues. It has been an influence on her films, which have dealt with themes of colonialism and post-colonialism in Africa. Her father moved with the family two years because he wanted the children to learn about geography. Growing up in West Africa, Denis used to watch the old, as an adolescent she loved to read. Completing the required material while in school, at night she would sneak her mothers detective stories to read, when Denis was 14 years old, she moved with her mother and sister to a Parisian suburb in France, a country that she hardly knew at all. Her parents wanted their children to finish their education in France, Denis initially studied economics, but, she has said, It was completely suicidal. She studied at the IDHEC, the French film school, with the encouragement of her husband and he told her she needed to figure out what she wanted to do. She graduated from the IDHEC and, since 2002, has been a Professor of Film at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee and her debut feature film Chocolat, a semi-autobiographical meditation on African colonialism, won her critical acclaim. It was selected for the Cannes Film Festival and was praised by critics and she returned to Africa again with White Material, set in an unidentified country during a time of civil war. According to the Australian James Phillips, when making her films, Denis rejects the conventions of Hollywood cinema. Denis is well known for the way that she combines history with personal history and this superimposition of the personal with the historical allows her films to be described as auteur cinema. She is known to work within a range of genres, spanning from the themes of horror seen in Trouble Every Day to the romance. While critics have noted recurring themes within her films, Denis says that she has no coherent vision of her career trajectory, Denis carefully chooses the titles of her films. Noëlle Rouxel-Cubberly argues that film titles are intended to force the viewer to rethink the imagery within a film, additionally, Denis is recognized for her process of shooting fast, editing slowly, which she has developed. In general, she does a few takes on the set and spends most of her time in the editing room and this post-production process often involves rearranging scenes out of the order in the script. For example, she placed the dance in Beau Travail at the end of the film, in reference to this process, Denis has said, Im always insecure when Im making a film
38.
Abbas Kiarostami
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Abbas Kiarostami was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, photographer and film producer. An active film-maker from 1970, Kiarostami had been involved in over forty films, including shorts and documentaries. Kiarostami attained critical acclaim for directing the Koker trilogy, Close-Up, Taste of Cherry – which was awarded the Palme dOr at the Cannes Film Festival that year – and The Wind Will Carry Us. In his later works, Certified Copy and Like Someone in Love, he filmed for the first time outside Iran, in Italy and Japan, Kiarostami had worked extensively as a screenwriter, film editor, art director and producer and had designed credit titles and publicity material. He was also a poet, photographer, painter, illustrator and these filmmakers share many common techniques including the use of poetic dialogue and allegorical storytelling dealing with political and philosophical issues. He is also known for his use of Persian poetry in the dialogue, titles, Kiarostamis films contain a notable degree of ambiguity, an unusual mixture of simplicity and complexity, and often a mix of fictional and documentary elements. The concepts of change and continuity, in addition to the themes of life and death and he majored in painting and graphic design, and supported his studies by working as a traffic policeman. As a painter, designer, and illustrator, Kiarostami worked in advertising in the 1960s, designing posters, between 1962 and 1966, he shot around 150 advertisements for Iranian television. In the late 1960s, he began creating credit titles for films and its debut production and Kiarostamis first film was the twelve-minute The Bread and Alley, a neo-realistic short film about a schoolboys confrontation with an aggressive dog. The department became one of Irans most noted film studios, producing not only Kiarostamis films, but acclaimed Persian films such as The Runner and Bashu, in the 1970s, Kiarostami pursued an individualistic style of film making. When discussing his first film, he stated, Bread and Alley was my first experience in cinema, I had to work with a very young child, a dog, and an unprofessional crew except for the cinematographer, who was nagging and complaining all the time. Well, the cinematographer, in a sense, was right because I did not follow the conventions of film making that he had become accustomed to, following The Experience, Kiarostami released The Traveler in 1974. The Traveler tells the story of Qassem Julayi, a troubled and troublesome boy from a small Iranian city. Intent on attending a match in far-off Tehran, he scams his friends and neighbors to raise money. In addressing the boys determination to reach his goal, alongside his indifference to the effects of his actions, the film examined human behavior. It furthered Kiarostamis reputation for realism, diegetic simplicity, and stylistic complexity, in 1975, Kiarostami directed two short films So Can I and Two Solutions for One Problem. In early 1976, he released Colors, followed by the fifty-four-minute film A Wedding Suit, Kiarostamis first feature film was the 112-minute Report. It revolved around the life of a tax collector accused of accepting bribes, in 1979, he produced and directed First Case, Second Case
39.
Lav Diaz
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Lavrente Indico Diaz is a Filipino independent filmmaker. He is known as one of the key members of the slow cinema movement and his films often tackle the issues regarding the current social and political state of the Philippines. His film Kagadanan sa Banwaan ning mga Engkanto, the Closing Film of the section of the Venice Film Festival 2007, was awarded with a Golden Lion Special Mention. Death in the Land of Encantos was also in competition at the Artistic Innovation Award of the Toronto International Film Festival 2007 and he received several awards at the Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature. His film Melancholia won the Orizzonti Grand Prize at the 65th Venice International Film Festival in 2008, in January 2011 he joined the board of directors for Cine Foundation International. He went back in 2011 at the Venice International Film Festival for his film Siglo ng Pagluluwal, the following year, his film Florentina Hubaldo, CTE won Best Asian Film at the Jeonju International Film Festival and gained the On-Screen Award at the Images Festival. His 2013 film Norte, the End of History was screened in the Un Certain Regard section of 2013 Cannes Film Festival and he received the Golden Leopard at the 2014 Locarno International Film Festival for From What Is Before. At the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival, his film A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery was awarded the Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize and he also received the Golden Lion at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival for The Woman Who Left. A Conversation with Lav Diaz La furia umana, n,9, Summer 201111 Hours in a Lifes Cause by Lim Li Min Militant elegy. A conversation with Lav Diaz La furia umana, n,17, Autumn 2013 The Burden of History. A conversation with Lav Diaz La furia umana, n,21, Autumn 2014 Philippines Year Zero
40.
Melancholia (2008 film)
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Melancholia is a 2008 Philippine film directed by Lav Diaz. It won the Horizons prize at the 65th Venice International Film Festival, the film is divided into three parts, plus an epilogue, but these parts are not explicitly defined within the movie. The film begins with a woman getting dressed in prostitutes clothing and walking up a long road from her apartment. She crosses paths with a nun asking for alms and gives her some money, the nun continues on her journey and runs across a pimp who confronts the nuns charity work as useless. The prostitute befriends a woman working a small convenience shack, on her way home, the prostitute comes across the pimp, who tries to lure her to work for him. She refuses saying she can care of herself. The prostitute has dinner at a cafe, where a large man seems to recognize her. After leaving the restaurant, the attempts to please an American client. The next day the nun continues to ask for money and the once again meets the pimp. Later in the day, the sets up a live sex show for some Japanese customers. The prostitute comes across the large man who keeps referring to her as Alberta and he decides to ask for her services and pays her money. However, once they get to the apartment, the man only asks the prostitute to take off her clothes. He examines her body and finally decides that she is not Alberta and he says Alberta was obsessed with finding Renato after he became a Communist guerrilla fighter in the forest. That night the nun undresses in her room, looking depressed and she exits her room and enters the prostitutes room right next door and tells her that shes getting fed up with the therapy. Rina is starting to spiral into a depression and Alberta becomes concerned, the next day, she tries frantically to call Julian to tell him that they need to call the therapy session off. He screams at her that he is not Julian and refuses to break character and he instead invites Alberta and Rina to a live sex show he has planned for them. Throughout the duration of the sex show, Alberta and Rina are visibly disturbed by Julians immersion into his character, the next day, Rina goes missing. He invites the friend over and says he wont publish the manuscript until he gives the money he owes, the friend promises and goes on a lengthy description of what the book is about
41.
Federico Fellini
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Federico Fellini was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Known for his style that blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. His films have ranked, in such as Cahiers du cinéma and Sight & Sound. Sight & Sound lists his 1963 film 8½ as the 10th greatest film of all time, in 1993, he was awarded an honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement at the 65th Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Fellini was born on 20 January 1920, to parents in Rimini. His father, Urbano Fellini, born to a family of Romagnol peasants and small landholders from Gambettola and his mother, Ida Barbiani, came from a bourgeiois Catholic family of Roman merchants. Despite her familys vehement disapproval, she had eloped with Urbano in 1917 to live at his parents home in Gambettola, a civil marriage followed in 1918 with the religious ceremony held at Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome a year later. The couple settled in Rimini where Urbano became a traveling salesman, Fellini had two siblings, Riccardo, a documentary director for RAI Television, and Maria Maddalena. In 1924, Fellini started primary school in a run by the nuns of San Vincenzo in Rimini. In 1926, he discovered the world of Grand Guignol, the circus with Pierino the Clown, Guido Brignone’s Maciste all’Inferno, the first film he saw, would mark him in ways linked to Dante and the cinema throughout his entire career. Enrolled at the Ginnasio Giulio Cesare in 1929, he made friends with Luigi ‘Titta’ Benzi, in Mussolini’s Italy, Fellini and Riccardo became members of the Avanguardista, the compulsory Fascist youth group for males. He visited Rome with his parents for the first time in 1933, the sea creature found on the beach at the end of La Dolce Vita has its basis in a giant fish marooned on a Rimini beach during a storm in 1934. To say that my films are autobiographical is an overly facile liquidation and it seems to me that I have invented almost everything, childhood, character, nostalgias, dreams, memories, for the pleasure of being able to recount them. In 1937, Fellini opened Febo, a shop in Rimini. with the painter Demos Bonini. His first humorous article appeared in the Postcards to Our Readers section of Milan’s Domenica del Corriere, deciding on a career as a caricaturist and gag writer, Fellini travelled to Florence in 1938, where he published his first cartoon in the weekly 420. According to a biographer, Fellini found school exasperating and, in one year, had 67 absences, failing his military culture exam, he graduated from high school in July 1938 after doubling the exam. In September 1939, he enrolled in law school at the University of Rome to please his parents, biographer Hollis Alpert reports that there is no record of his ever having attended a class. Installed in a family pensione, he met lifelong friend
42.
The White Sheik
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The White Sheik is a 1952 Italian romantic comedy film directed by Federico Fellini and starring Alberto Sordi, Leopoldo Trieste, Brunella Bovo and Giulietta Masina. When the young woman away to find the hero of her romance novels. The White Sheik was filmed on location in Fregene, Rome, Spoleto, two young newlyweds from a provincial town, Wanda and Ivan Cavalli, arrive in Rome for their honeymoon. The plotline was re-used by Woody Allen in his film To Rome with Love and he had previously co-directed Variety Lights in 1950 with Alberto Lattuada. Originally the treatment for The White Sheik was written by Michelangelo Antonioni, carlo Ponti commissioned Fellini and Tullio Pinelli to develop the treatment. It was satirical in nature, targeting the trashy fotoromanzi comic strips that were popular in Italy when the film was made. The male lead, Leopoldo Trieste, a playwright who did not consider himself an actor, during the audition Fellini asked him to compose a sonnet that the lead character would have written to his wife. The poem which begins She is graceful, sweet and teeny. was included in the film, appearing briefly as the prostitute Cabiria, Giulietta Masina would later return to this role in Nights of Cabiria. Her short scene inspired Fellini to write the screenplay and also convinced producers that Giulietta was ready for the leading role, the result is unusual and stimulating but derives more from the failure to establish a basic mood or tone rather than from any direct intention. Fellini should find this tone in future if he is to avoid the discontinuity we found here. Notes Further reading The White Sheik at the Internet Movie Database
43.
Achilles and the Tortoise (film)
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Achilles and the Tortoise is a 2008 Japanese film written, directed and edited by Takeshi Kitano. The film is the third and final part of Kitanos surrealist autobiographical trilogy, starting with Takeshis, the title Achilles and the Tortoise refers to the motion paradox by Greek philosopher Zeno of Elea, Achilles and the Tortoise. Kitano plays Machisu, who is born into a wealthy family, when his father commits suicide after the collapse of his business, Machisus stepmother sends him to live with an aunt and uncle who mistreat him and finally send him to an orphanage. As a young man, Machisu attends art school and finds his style of painting challenged by the experimental and conceptual work turned in by his classmates. Machisu takes a job in order to pay for art school, and strikes up a friendship with a fellow co-worker, Sachiko and they get married and have a daughter. As he grows older, Mashisus obsession with contemporary art controls his life, leaving him insensitive of everything around him, including the death of his own daughter. He tries to please the art critics, remaining penniless and he is caught up in a fire and almost dies. Losing all his previous works, he is left with a single half-burnt soda can and this ends up kicked carelessly away when his wife picks him up from the street. They walk away together, seemingly finally rid of his artistic obsession, mark Schilling of The Japan Times gave the film 2 out of 5 stars. Berra, John, ed. Directory of World Cinema, Japan, official website Achilles and the Tortoise at the Internet Movie Database
44.
The Burning Plain
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The Burning Plain is a 2008 drama film directed and written by Guillermo Arriaga, the screenwriter of Amores perros,21 Grams, and Babel. The film stars Charlize Theron, Jennifer Lawrence, Kim Basinger, in Arriagas directorial debut, he films a story that has multipart story strands woven together as in his previous screenplays. Filming of The Burning Plain began in New Mexico in November 2007, typical of Arriagas works, this film is told in a nonlinear narrative, where events are revealed out of sequence. The following plot summary is in order, thus does not reflect the exact sequence of the events as seen on screen. The story starts some time during the mid-1990s in a town near Las Cruces, New Mexico, where Gina. Gina is having an affair with a man named Nick Martinez, who also has a family of his own. Mariana follows her mother to Nicks trailer, knowing the two are inside, and in an effort to make them end their affair, she disconnects the gas pipe leading into the trailer and sets it on fire. The flames eventually reach a gas tank, which explodes, consuming the entire trailer and claiming Nick and Ginas lives, after their funeral, Mariana and Nicks teenaged son, Santiago, slowly begin to develop a relationship of their own. Mariana soon becomes aware that she is pregnant with Santiagos daughter, the two flee to Mexico amid disapproval from their families and decide to have the baby there, after she gives birth to their daughter, Mariana abandons her family and changes her name to Sylvia. More than a later, Sylvia is working at a high-end restaurant in Oregon. Despite her success, she resorts to promiscuity and has persistent thoughts of suicide, here, a mysterious man follows her around. It is Carlos, a friend and business-partner of Santiago. Because Carlos does not speak English and Sylvia does not speak Spanish, instead, he surprises Sylvia with her now 12-year-old daughter, Maria. Maria, who was reluctant to meet her estranged mother, is heartbroken when Sylvia hastily departs without speaking to either when she sees Maria. After realizing her mistake, Sylvia enlists the help of her friend Laura to find Carlos, after reuniting, Sylvia, Maria, and Carlos go to Mexico, where Sylvia apologizes to Maria for the years she has been absent from her life. They visit Santiago, who is sedated due to the extent of his injuries, Sylvia confesses her past sins by his bedside, unsure if he will ever wake up again. The doctor reassures them that he will be fine, and the story concludes on a hopeful note. D, Arriaga wrote the story of The Burning Plain to weave together multipart story strands. The film was financed by 2929 Productions, and Constantini Films, the film will have a budget of under $20 million
45.
Guillermo Arriaga
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Guillermo Arriaga Jordán is a Mexican author, screenwriter, director and producer. Arriaga was born 13 March 1958 in Mexico City, at the age of 13, he lost the sense of smell after a brutal street fight that would later serve as inspiration for some of his work. Before engaging in his career, Arriaga tried out a variety of jobs and professions, amongst which were that of boxer, basketball player. He completed a B. A. in Communications and a M. A. in Psychology at the Ibero-American University, while teaching at the Universidad Iberoamericana, Arriaga met future film director Alejandro González Iñárritu and decided to make a feature length, multiplot film set in Mexico City. The success of Amores Perros earned Arriaga and Iñárritu an invitation to the U. S. to work on the Universal/Focus Features film 21 Grams, starring Benicio del Toro, Naomi Watts, del Toro and Watts received Academy Award nominations for their performances. González Iñárritu and Arriaga collaborated on a movie, Babel. However, friction between writer and director led to González Iñárritu banning Arriaga from attending the 2006 Cannes screening of Babel, nevertheless, González Iñárritu and Arriaga both received Academy Award nominations for their work. On 19 January 2007, the adaptation of his book El Búfalo de la Noche directed by Jorge Hernandez Aldana premiered at the Sundance film festival. It features a score by Omar Rodríguez-López of The Mars Volta, on 29 August 2008, The Burning Plain was premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Arriaga wrote the script and pitched it to American producers, who talked with some directors, Arriaga eventually directed the film, starring Charlize Theron. Each of the four feature films consist of a set of 10 shorts. The three other films are the drug-themed Into the Bloodstream, Encounters, a look at sexual identity and expression, and Polis, financing for all four movies have been secured, with each produced in 14 months. Arriaga objects to being called a guionista, he advocates for screenwriters being referred to as writers, Guillermo Arriaga at the Internet Movie Database Interview with Guillermo Arriaga at El Malpensante Writing the Memories, Interview with Guillermo Arriaga on The Burning Plain by Matthew Sorrento
46.
Inju: The Beast in the Shadow
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Inju, The Beast in the Shadow is a 2008 film by Barbet Schroeder. The film stars Benoît Magimel and Lika Minamoto and was filmed on location in Tokyo, the film is based on a 1928 novel by Japanese writer Edogawa Rampo. The novel has been published in English by Kurodahan Press under the title Beast in the Shadows in an edition with The Black Lizard. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival in August 2008, the film was released in France on September 3,2008. In his underground detective novels, evil always prevails and Shundei Oe has never allowed anyone to see his face and his only image available is a frightening picture on the back of his best-sellers. Alex travels to Kyoto to promote his detective story that follows the same style of the Shundei Oe. He meets with his publisher, Ken Honda, from the publishing house Hakubunkan, after these finds in his investigation, Alex becomes more determined to find the mysterious writer. Critical reaction to the film after its Venice premiere was mostly negative, geoffrey Macnab wrote, Inju, the Beast in the Shadow is a bold but arguably misguided affair. t is pitched somewhere between a B-thriller and Nagisa Oshimas In the Realm of the Senses. Corny plot twists, transgressive sex and self-reflexive asides about cinema sit side by side, many in Venice found it preposterous and it was given a rough ride by the volatile Italian press. Inju, The Beast in the Shadow at the Internet Movie Database
