Foreign Titles Dominate 41st New Directors/New Films Festival

An anticipated event on the annual festival circuit in the U.S. the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) unveiled the full lineup for the New Directors/New Films series taking place March 21 – April 1 in NY. The 41st edition of the event will spotlight 29 features and 12 shorts by emerging talent. Foreign titles are heavily represented in this year’s lineup with only a few Americans making the cut. Sony Classics’ Where Do We Go Now? by Nadine Labaki join the large group of foreign titles this year. Adam Leon’s Gimme The Loot, Sundance ’12 titles How To Survive A Plague by David France and An Oversimplification Of Her Beauty by Terence Nance are among the new U.S. offerings this year. ND/NF will break some precedent this year, hosting a screening of Stanley Kubrick’s Fear And Desire, twenty years older than the festival itself. Also new for the closing night is a surprise screening that will be revealed as the curtain raises April 1st. The 41st New Directors/New Films features selections include: THE AMBASSADOR (Ambassadren) (2011) 94min Directed by Mads Brgger Country: Denmark The consummate agent-provocateur–his method fittingly described as Graham Greene meets Borat–Brgger (THE RED CHAPEL, NDNF 2010) shocks and mightily entertains by performing an artistic intervention in reality using role-playing and hidden cameras to expose an awful truth about life in central Africa. BREATHING (Atmen) (2011) 90min Director: Karl Markovics Country: Austria The remarkably assured directorial debut from veteran Austrian actor Karl Markovics (THE COUNTERFEITERS) creates a slipstream between the perilousness of youth and the inevitability of death as it tells the story of an inmate at a juvenile detention center whose last hope of parole rests on his ability to hold down a job…as a morgue assistant. A Kino Lorber release. CRULIC: THE PATH TO BEYOND (2011) 73min Director: Anca Damian Country: Romania Anca Damians documentary utilizes hand drawn, cutout and collage animation techniques, combined with some very dark humor to create a striking documentary about a young Romanians hunger strike in a Polish jail. DONOMA (2011) 133min Directed by Djinn Carrnard Country: France Rumored to have been shot for about $200, DONOMA announces the arrival of an intriguing new talent on the French scene, Haitian-born, Paris based Djinn Carrnard. Devised, shot (often guerrilla-style) and edited over a period of years, the film is a choral piece that chronicles the romantic destinies of three women, offering a fresh, funny portrait of an emerging French generation. FEAR AND DESIRE (1953) 72min Director: Stanley Kubrick Country: USA Directed, photographed, and edited by the talented and ambitious 24-year-old Kubrick, FEAR AND DESIRE was written by his high school classmate, Howard Sackler, who would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize in playwriting.Some Kubrick scholars see this wartime drama of five soldiers behind enemy lines and their encounter with a native woman as a dry run for PATHS OF GLORY; others see it as the original to the second half of FULL METAL JACKET. A Kino Lorber release. 5 BROKEN CAMERAS (2011) 90min Directors: Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi Countries: Palestine/Israel/France Emad Burnats and Guy Davidis documentary began five years ago in the Palestinian town of Bilin when Burnat bought a camera to record the birth of his son Gibreel. Gibreels arrival, however, coincided with a period of great unrest in the area, which is witnessed by five video cameras, each subsequently damaged by bullets or rocks. A Kino Lorber release. FOUND MEMORIES (Historias Que So Existem Quando Lembradas) (2011) 98min Director: Julia Murat Country: Brazil The original title, which translates as “stories that only exist when remembered,” beautifully expresses the theme and core sentiment of Julia Murat’s poetic rendering of the fictive town of Jotuomba. A magical confluence of generations and cultures is occasioned by the visit of Rita, a young photographer, to this place where time has seemingly stood still and life is rooted in the fixed roles of tradition soon to be rendered obsolete. A Film Movement release. GENERATION P (2011) 116min Director: Victor Ginzburg Country: Russia Ginzburgs GENERATION P could be described as a metaphysical Mad Men from the go-go 1990s – a wonderland of images and ideas that emerged from the rebirth of a nation as a marketers paradise. The film offers a view of post-Communist Russia as the arrival of democracy and Pepsi-Cola brought the advance of capitalism with all of its mechanisms and fuzzy messages. GIMME THE LOOT (2012) 81min Director: Adam Leon Country: USA In his feature film debut, Adam Leon has created a raucous, car-less road trip that is an homage to street-smart kids and NY City. Malcolm and Sofia, two determined teens from theBronx, are the ultimate graffiti writers. When their latest masterpiece is wiped out by a rival gang, they must hustle, steal and scheme to get spectacular revenge and become the biggest graffiti writers in the city. GOODBYE (B omid didar) (2011) 104min Director: Mohammad Rasoulof. Country: Iran In his latest film, celebrated Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof creates a dramatic and tense tale set in Tehran, where a young woman is desperately attempting to acquire a visa to leave the country. The beautifully shot film uses the confinement of space to cinematically express claustrophobia, its precise framing catching every subtle expression on the face of the astonishing Leyla Zareh, who plays the disbarred human rights lawyer, Noora, looking for a way out. HEMEL (2012) 80min Director: Sacha Polak Country: The Netherlands/Spain Sacha Polaks HEMEL features Hannah Hoekstra as a strong-willed, complicated, and vulnerable heroine who longs (perhaps too much) to connect with her elusive father and ultimately find herself.The film is a powerful investigation of a sexually-empowered woman and her search for physical and intellectual intimacy. HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE (2012) 109min Director: David France Country: USA David Frances immersive moving-image document chronicling the rise of AIDS activism shows a movement though the lenses of those who captured it firsthand.Desperate people leveraged the skills they hadsome wrote, some lobbied, many marched, and all mobilizedto flight a plague that vast swaths of society saw as just punishment for immoral actions.A Sundance Selects release. HUAN HUAN (2011) 90min Director: Song Chuan Country: China Song Chuans first feature captures the dreams and desires, disappointments and regrets, of a life not fully lived via the title character. In a rural Chinese village, a young woman who is the local doctors mistress struggles against her family, government bureaucracy and social mores to move away and create a life for herself. IT LOOKS PRETTY FROM A DISTANCE (Z daleka widok jest piekny) (2011) 77min Directors: Anka and Wilhelm Sasnal Country: Poland Anka and Wilhelm Sasnals film is set in a Polish village effectively cut off from civilization, where rough and impassive Pawel makes a living scavenging for scrap metal. Theres bad blood between him and the community (a more spiteful collection of individuals would be hard to imagine), and when he goes AWOL his neighbors loot and vandalize his home. What if he returns? A brooding, almost wordless drama vision of a world in an advanced state of entropy. LAS ACACIAS (2011) 85min Director: Pablo Giorgelli Country: Argentina One of the discoveries of the 2011 Cannes Critics Week, Pablo Giogellis road movie with a difference takes a 900-mile trip from Asuncin in Paraguay to Buenos Aires in the company of Rubn, a gruff, taciturn truck driver and the two illegal immigrantsa young woman, and her new-born daughterhe is reluctantly transporting. THE MINISTER (Lexercice de ltat) (2011) 115min Director: Pierre Schller Country: France Pierre Schllers political thriller focuses on a cabinet minister (Olivier Gourmet) in charge of national transportation who believes himself to be a man of the people. He wants both to be and do good, but in order to get anything done he must, given the exigencies of compromise, cajole, bend and even betray. NEIGHBORING SOUNDS (O som ao redor) (2012) 124min Director: Kleber Mendona Filho Country: Brazil A thrilling debut from a breakout talent, Kleber Mendona Filhos NEIGHBORING SOUNDS delves into the lives of a group of prosperous middle-class families residing on a quiet street, close to a low-income neighborhood. A private security firm hired to police the street becomes the catalyst for an exploration of the neighbors discontents and anxieties, which are exacerbated by a palpable sense of unease over their societys troubled past and present inequities. NOW, FORAGER (2012) 93min Directors: Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin Countries: USA/Poland A quiet tale about the search for integrity and the perfect mushroom, Jason Cortlunds and Julia Halperins NOW, FORAGER followsLucien and Regina, an urban couple living off the land foraging for fungi in upstate NY with a dream of following the seasonal emergence of exotic varieties across the country.That is, until Reginas decision to take a job in the kitchen of a hip restaurant offers a more solid opportunity, even as it betrays Luciens off-the-grid ethos. OMAR KILLED ME (Omar ma tuer) (2011) 85min Director: Roschdy Zem Country: France Actor-turned-director Roschdy Zems OMAR KILLED ME tells a story of racism, politics, and injustice with the clarity of a documentary and the pacing of a thriller. When a rich widow was murdered in the south of France 20 years ago, her Moroccan gardener was convicted and jailed with no evidence; it took a committed journalist to try to unravel the rush to judgment that laid bare the racism that was hidden in the French justice system. OSLO, AUGUST 31ST (2011) 96min Director: Joachim Trier Country: Norway Daylight lingers at the end of August in Oslo, but sunlight is not a friend to Anders, a semi-recovered addict, facing a new life, which may not be appealing without former habits. Adapted from the same novel as Louis Malle’s THE FIRE WITHIN (1963), Joachim Triers OSLO, AUGUST 31ST follows Anders as he tries to adjust – making love, wandering through Oslo, having a job interview, seeing old friends, and trying to get comfortable with his situation. A Strand Releasing Film. AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION OF HER BEAUTY (2011) 95min Directed by Terence Nance Country: USA Frank, funny, and bracingly contemporary, visual artist Terence Nance gleefully bends the cinematic rules for his personal meditation on love in the new millennium with his film, AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION OF BEAUTY. Passages of live action sequences and direct-to-camera interviews are accented with a wide variety of animation styles as Nance analyzes his amorous history as well as his current circumstances. PORFIRIO (2011) 101min Director: Alejandro Landes Country: Colombia Paralyzed from the waist down by a stray police bullet, the title character in Alejandro Landes’ remarkable film spends his days selling minutes on his cell phone when not flirting with his comely neighbor, and secretly plotting his revenge. Landes worked on the film for five years, creating a tale that joined the most intimate details of Porfirio’s day-to-day life with an astonishing re-creation of his attempt to hijack an airplane. THE RABBIS CAT (Le chat du rabbin) (2011) 89min Director: Antoine Delesvaux Countries: France/Austria Adapted from the graphic novels by Joanne Sfar, THE RABBIS CAT is a vivid, lively, and imaginative animated film co-directed by Sfar and Antoine Delesvaux . Set in 1920s Algiers, a widower rabbi lives with his voluptuous and dutiful daughter and their pesky cat who swallows a parakeet and begins to speak, driving everyone crazy and moving the plot ahead by insisting on having a bar-mitzvah. THE RAID (2011) 100min Director: Gareth Huw Evans Countries: Indonesia/USA In Gareth Huw Evans sensational thriller, THE RAID, a police SWAT team storms a housing project ruled by gangsters and inhabited by machete-wielding lowlifesbut the mission has been leaked, the tables are turned, and a dwindling band of elite fighters find themselves massively outnumbered in a lethal game of cat and mouse. What ensues is a relentless and savage succession of close-quarters shoot-outs and punishing martial-arts combat sequences, each jaw-dropping smackdown unbelievably topping the previous one. This film is wild! A Sony Pictures Classics release. ROMANCE JOE (Ro-maen-seu Jo ) (2011) 115min Director: Lee Kwang-Kuk Country: South Korea In his playful first feature, Lee Kwang-Kuk expertly weaves several narrative strands into an elegant web and a meditation on storytelling. A teasing and pleasing portrait of a filmmaker in search of a story to tell, ROMANCE JOE begins as a young, self-possessed barmaid in a remote inn recalls the time she met the title character. TEDDY BEAR (2012) 92min Director: Mads Matthiesen Country: Denmark Mads Matthiesen’s character-based and understated comedy, TEDDY BEAR tells the story of a gentle giant of a body builder who self sculpts his muscles by day and lives quietly at home with his mom at night. But at 38, he really wants a proper girlfriend, and despite his mother’s resistance (she is a master of emotional manipulation) and his own profound awkwardness, he draws up the courage to find one–even if he has to leave Denmark to do so. TWILIGHT PORTRAIT (2011) 105min Director: Angelina Nikonova Country: Russia TWILIGHT PORTRAIT is a powerhouse collaboration co-written and co-produced by Angelina Nikonova, who directed, and Olga Dihovichnaya, who stars in this very dark, provocative and constantly surprising debut feature film. In a modern Russian city where corruption, apathy and class warfare are the norm, a woman is raped, rather casually, by the police. What follows explodes the conventions of sexual politicsand will certainly have filmgoers talking. WHERE DO WE GO NOW? (2010) 100min Director: Nadine Labaki Countries: France/Lebanon/Italy/Egypt Labakis film focuses on a group of women of different religions in a remote Lebanese village that band together and invent schemes to prevent their men from killing each other in the intractable religious conflict that surrounds their community. This entertaining and unlikely near-musical tears down stereotypes of women in the Middle East and uses humor to explore serious subjects, with one eye toward Aristophanes Lysistrata and the other toward Bollywood. A Sony Pictures Classics Release.

Exist Twelve Headshots Lots Of in this particular Redband Video from Act of Valor?

By a lot of accounts -- okay, mostly just the filmmakers' -- this week's commando pic Act of Valor marks a completely new kind of filmmaking because of it's a Navy Shuts actioner starring real active duty soldiers that can the viewer along around the near-firsthand knowledge about how it's would rather fight terrorists and baddies. Within the looks in the film's new redband featurette this means audiences might find exactly what it looks and appears prefer to decrease dome shots left and right inside the warmth of fight, because nothing states "valor" a lot better than shooting others inside the mind with automatic weapons. I am certain there's a reasonable volume of weightiness and responsibility within Act of Valor, since the filmmakers do appear to experience a genuine respect for your people in the military who risk their lives for everybody and safeguard. But a clip similar to this -- which first demonstrated on gamer-leaning IGN, where it might go missing in the gaggle of first person shooter promotions -- doesn't do much besides glorifying the masterdom of fight, as seen partially through helmet-mounted cameras. I count believe it or not than eleven, maybe 12 overflowing mind shots within the size of this two-minute video, but why even freakier is definitely that many the cast is culled from active duty Navy Shuts who've had similar skirmishes inside the area. Watching individuals who've been taught to kill pretend you kill people who seem like people they've really destroyed in solid existence can be a tricky step to digest. It's one step to witness the brutality and gallantry of actual military existence with the movies (see: Restrepo) it's another to embrace the glossy, redband-worthy violence as pure entertainment. However, you may disagree? See the clip below by leaving your opinions inside the comments. More Act of Valor Videos

Pilot Season: Ugly Betty Alum Michael Urie to Co-Star in CBS' Partners

College hoops fans, prepare to open your wallets if you want to see your favorite team try to make it to the final four. Turner Sports and CBS Sports, which became partners in broadcasting March Madness last year, will start charging fans $3.99 to watch all 67 games on one website, Ad Week reports. Find out when your favorite team is playing next! Since 2006, CBS has allowed fans to watch live games online via... Read More >

DirecTV profit develops to $723 million

Satcaster DirecTV stated internet profit increased to $723 million from $683 million last quarter as revenue rose nearly 13% to $7.5 billion on greater customer development in South America and greater average U.S. revenue per sub. The El Segundo, Calif.-based company has 32 million customers within the U.S. and South America. It added 125,000 U.S. subs within the quarter and 528,000 in South America. Within the U.S., its average revenue per user rose $4.74 to $101.38. Boss Mike Whilte stated strong demand "drove full-year gross additions both in our U.S. and Latin American companies to any or all-time levels, fueling the biggest annual internet grow in DirecTV's good reputation for nearly 3.7 million customers including Sky Mexico." Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Pilot Season: Law & Order's Alana De La Garza Scrubs In to NBC's Do No Harm

Alana De La Garza Law & Order alum Alana De La Garza is returning to NBC in the medical drama pilot Do No Harm, Deadline reports.The Jekyll and Hyde-themed project follows Jeffrey Kohn, a brilliant neurosurgeon who wrestles with his dangerous alter-ego. De La Garza will play Dr. Lena Steck, a confident neurosurgeon who has chemistry with Kohn. Get the latest news on all the pilot pickups hereAlso cast is British actress Ruta Gedmintas (The Borgias), who will play Kohn's ex-fiancée Olivia Case.David Schulner wrote the pilot, which will be directed by Smash helmer Michael Mayer.

Divine costume design once more at FIDM

FIDM's Meghan Hansen installs Peppy Miller's dress from 'The Artist.'For two decades, costume designers, a number of whom were nominated to have an Oscar on Jan. 24, have discovered their focus on display in the Fashion Institute of Design and Retailing in downtown La.The footwork for acquiring the costumes begins annually ahead of time as FIDM Museum director Barbara Bundy and her staff curate the display after watching movies and trailers.A few of the costumes happen to be leased, some recycled for other productions and because of so many projects from around the world meriting inclusion, employees needs to move early before costumes are scattered towards the winds once production finishes.But FIDM isn't alone. Among individuals who help secure the clothes would be the Costume Designers Guild, the Academy of movement Picture Arts and Sciences, Los Angeles' parks and entertainment department, the town of La, individual enthusiasts, galleries, production companies, PR firms, agents, prop houses and costume houses, to express nothing from the designers themselves."Over two decades we've been so fortunate with connections with costume designers, the guild, galleries, that there exists a host of individualsInch (who give tips to FIDM), states Bundy. "We all know the galleries, the costume designers and that we sort out that network. There's tremendous advantage when you have had the opportunity to develop such relationships."Mary Rose, prexy from the Costume Designers Guild, and designer Colleen Atwood are among individuals who've assisted out. As 2011's costume design Oscar champion for "Alice's adventures in wonderland," Atwood's clothes is going to be displayed, a FIDM tradition."I understand many people who aren't in show business plus they can't obtain heads around the way we do stuff," Atwood states. "It's exciting to determine craftmanship close up since it passes so quick in films."She likes to setup her very own clothes. "I am super picky, I love to observe how it's displayed."Bundy adds, "A lot of stars and stars aren't mannequin size therefore we remove ribs, pad out where we have to make (the models) the best size and right height. We've our very own surgery center," she laughs.Eye around the Academy awards: Art Direction, Costume Design & MakeupCostumes Art Direction MakeupDivine costume design once more at FIDM Contact Shalini Dore at shali.dore@variety.com