“Food, Inc” and “The Cove” amongst the 15 final films in the documentary feature category. A top 5 will now be selected by Dec. 15.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 15 films in the Documentary Feature category will advance in the voting process for the 82nd Academy Awards®. Eighty-nine pictures had originally qualified in the category.
The 15 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production company:
- “The Beaches of Agnes,” Agnès Varda, director (Cine-Tamaris)
- “Burma VJ,” Anders Østergaard, director (Magic Hour Films)
- “The Cove,” Louie Psihoyos, director (Oceanic Preservation Society)
- “Every Little Step,” James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo, directors (Endgame Entertainment)
- “Facing Ali,” Pete McCormack, director (Network Films Inc.)
- “Food, Inc.,” Robert Kenner, director (Robert Kenner Films)
- “Garbage Dreams,” Mai Iskander, director (Iskander Films, Inc.)
- “Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders,” Mark N. Hopkins, director (Red Floor Pictures LLC)
- “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers,” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith, directors (Kovno Communications)
- “Mugabe and the White African,” Andrew Thompson and Lucy Bailey, directors (Arturi Films Limited)
- “Sergio,” Greg Barker, director (Passion Pictures and Silverbridge Productions)
- “Soundtrack for a Revolution,” Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman, directors (Freedom Song Productions)
- “Under Our Skin,” Andy Abrahams Wilson, director (Open Eye Pictures)
- “Valentino The Last Emperor,” Matt Tyrnauer, director (Acolyte Films)
- “Which Way Home,” Rebecca Cammisa, director (Mr. Mudd)
The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network.
It’s not very often that the one thing competing with an Ole Miss home football game is a movie about Ole Miss football. But this weekend, football lovers will have to squeeze in some time at the Malco to see “The Blind Side” about the Tuohy family and their adopted son Michael Oher, a former Rebel and now the Ravens.
The movie, an adaptation of the New York Times best seller by Michael Lewis, “The Blind Side: The Evolution of a Game,” opens nationwide on Friday. The true story of Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy and their children that met Oher, adopted him and encouraged him in his pursuit to play football, “The Blind Side” is as much about their family as it is Ole Miss.
“You can’t tell in the trailer but the whole movie is Ole Miss all the time,” Collins Tuohy, the daughter that attended Ole Miss at the same time as her adopted brother Oher, said.
But for the Tuohy’s, their priority will be focusing on the game.
“We are the same people that we are now that we were before the movie and book,” Tuohy said. “We will be in Oxford this weekend for the game.”
The family has spent months preparing for the release of the film including doing constant interviews with national media.
“We felt like it was a story that needed to be told,” Tuohy said.
Before the media blitz, the family spent a lot of time on the phone with the actors and visited the set in Georgia numerous times. Oher has had little time to experience what is happening as he is in his rookie season in the pros.
“He hasn’t gotten to be a part of any of this,” Tuohy said. “The movie literally started shooting the day after the draft and wrapped the day before he got out of rookie camp. He never got to the set and now all the publicity stuff has started in the middle of playing football and anyone who knows Michael knows he is all business. He is doing football.”
But Tuohy and her mom got to visit the set several times.
“Mom went a lot and Sandy talked to mom a lot and worked with a voice coach hours upon hours. I don’t want to say we had a huge part but we got to experience the whole process.”
But seeing yourself on the big screen is surreal, Tuohy said. The actress playing her, Lily Collins, talked with Touhy on the phone and by e-mail for months to find out more about her.
“It is weird to have someone play you,” Tuohy said. “You can’t imagine being in a movie theater and the preview coming in and then I see my mom yelling at my little brother. Sandra [Bullock] did such a good job, she sounds just like my mom.”
But Tuohy said that she and Lily have gotten along well as they are similar in age and have much in common.
“I love Lily, she is great,” Tuohy said. “We are already a lot a like and interested in the same things.”
Tuohy said the first time she got the call from the film director to talk to Collins she was sitting in Farley in a journalism class.
“I left class and talked to her for a few minutes. Right away I knew she would do a great job,” Tuohy said. “She has a very calm spirit about her and for her to have that makes it so much better to handle this whole process.”
Tuohy pauses and tells me to hold on because her dad is yelling from across the room.
“Dad, I’m on an interview,” she says before telling me “story of my life.”
Her dad shouts, “Oh sorry I didn’t know you were on the phone, are you doing a good job with the interview?”
Their exchange is just part of a normal family, but unlike most families —they have shared their story for the world to see.
Tuohy warns that their story is no “Remember the Titans.” The film doesn’t end with a winning touchdown or follow the typical football movie.
“I don’t want to give away the ending but the way they ended the movie just kind of wraps up the whole story of our family and the success of Michael being at Ole Miss,” Tuohy said. “It is not an ending you would predict.”
For Tuohy, the biggest impact of the film for her is her brother Michael, the heart of the story.
“To me Michael is Michael but at the end of the film when the real news footage shows and Michael comes out of the room at the draft, when I watched it with an audience and I could see everybody’s face realizing it was a real story, that Michael is a real person —it is special that they have that in there.”
“The Blind Side” opens at Malco in Oxford on Friday. A special screening was held for prominent alumni and donors of the University of Mississippi this week.
Photo 1: TIM McGRAW as Sean Tuohy, LILY COLLINS as Collins Tuohy, JAE HEAD as SJ TUOHY, QUINTON AARON as Michael Oher and SANDRA BULLOCK as Leigh Anne Tuohy in Alcon Entertainment’s drama “The Blind Side,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo by Ralph Nelson
Photo 2: Michael Oher as a Rebel. Photo by Bruce Newman.
As Published in the Oxford Town.
Thanksgiving usually mean one thing: families go to the movies. Oh sure, there will still be time to gather with friends and family while you eat turkey and too many starches, but there are a few can’t miss films about to be released in theaters and what good are holidays if not to hide out in a dark room and eat popcorn?
Thanksgiving Films (released Nov. 20-27)
“The Blind Side”
Directed by John Lee Hancock and starring Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw, Ray McKinnon and Kathy Bates (and expect cameos from some famous Ole Miss faces)
Synopsis Says: The Blind Side” depicts the remarkable true story of Michael Oher, a homeless African-American youngster from a broken home, taken in by the Touhys, a well-to-do white family who help him fulfill his potential.
Worth my money? Critics at early screenings said the film puts the corny in pop corn but that audiences will likely embrace this as a heartfelt and warm story of the Ole Miss family.
“Planet 51”
Director: Jorge Blanco and starring (the voices of) Jessica Biel, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Justin Long, Gary Oldman, John Cleese
Synopsis Says: American astronaut lands on Planet 51 thinking he’s the first person to step foot on it. To his surprise, he finds that this planet is inhabited by little green people who are happily living in a white picket fence world.
Worth my money? An easy to please family film that critics compare to a rip off of “Toy Story” and “Monsters vs. Aliens.”
“The Twilight Saga: New Moon”
Director : Chris Weitz and starring Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson
Synopsis Says: After Bella recovers from the vampire attack that almost claimed her life, she looks to celebrate her birthday with Edward and his family. However, a minor accident during the festivities results in Bella’s blood being shed, a sight that proves too intense for the Cullens, who decide to leave the town of Forks, Washington for Bella and Edward’s sake. Initially heartbroken, Bella finds a form of comfort in reckless living, as well as an even-closer friendship with Jacob Black.
Worth my money? If you can manage to find a ticket opening weekend, the new film is set to have a much higher success rate than the first, part in due to a new director and part due to a strong girl teen following of Lautner and Pattinson.
“Old Dogs”
Directed by Walt Becker and starring John Travolta, Robin WIlliams, Justin Long, Seth Green, Matt Dillon, Kelly Preston
Synopsis says: Two friends and business partners find their lives turned upside down when strange circumstances lead to them being placed in the care of 7-year-old twins.
Worth my money? Both stars have had a rough personal life recently so let’s hope the film plays well. Doubtful that critics will jump on the bandwagon but likely that fans of “Wild Hogs” will enjoy. Should be easy for families to watch so could have a successful weekend.
“The Road”
Directed by John Hillcoat and starring: Viggo Mortenson, Guy Pearce, Robert Duvall.
Synopsis says: A post-apocalyptic tale of a man and his son trying to survive by any means possible.
Worth my money? Critics have fallen for the film but Variety notes that the bleak pessimism and dark subject matter will likely put off many filmgoers. But yes, this one will be worth your money.
As published in the Oxford Town.
University of Mississippi graduate student Glenn Payne held the world premiere of his 10th film “A Zombie Movie” in Tupelo to a sold out crowd. The film, a mockumentary about the making of a zombie film, delighted the audience with its humorous approach to filmmaking. He screened his film along with the film of one of his zombie stars, Daniel Lee who showed the sequel to his b-movie “Ocho: The Arachnid from Hell.”
Payne is working towards his Master in Fine Arts in Painting at the university and while working mostly with painting professor Phillip Jackson is also taking photography and video classes with professor Brooke White.
White, curator of the experimental block for the Oxford Film Festival, is encouraging Payne to try his hand at experimental film this year. Payne said that the opportunity to work on a fine arts degree is a different approach for filmmaking but one that he hopes will set him apart from the usual film students.
“I considered lots of film schools but I have a nice network here,” Payne said. “I am continuing to study film but from the mindset of fine artists.”
Payne, 27, is originally from Blue springs outside of Tupelo and is part of the young Tupelo film movement.
“I hope to make films for a living that help change the world” Payne said. “But I hope to avoid L.A. as much as possible. There are advantages to filming here because I can get into a building and shoot for free and work with an extremely talented cast and crew from this area.”
Payne’s film took two nights to film, around 8 hours and cost $120 to shoot. After the screening he said he hopes to start submitting the film to festivals and then eventually a DVD release. Although his 10th film, he is just now getting into the world of exhibiting his work outside of Tupelo.
For this film, as director the challenge was in managing the basic premise of the film but allowing the actors, mostly the cast from Tupelo’s comedy troupe, West of Shake Rag, to improvise each scene. A scene header led each break but the rest of the film was what Payne called organized chaos.
“We followed with two hand-held cameras,” Payne said. “Then the director of the zombie movie within the film also helped to direct the scenes.”
By Melanie Addington
As published in the Oxford Town
Rooftop Films is currently accepting submissions for the 2010 Rooftop Films Summer Series. Submit your films and videos now and participate in one of the most unforgettable, unique, filmmaker-friendly, independent film events in the world! You can submit directly to us by downloading the submission form (http://rooftopfilms.com/2010_submission_form.pdf) or you can submit via Without A Box (https://www.withoutabox.com/login/4671).
The 2010 Summer Series will run from May through September and will feature more than 200 daring new films, all screened outdoors, in front of big, loyal audiences in parks, on boats, and on rooftops overlooking the greatest city in the world. More than 25,000 people attended Rooftop screenings in 2009, making it one of the biggest festivals for underground films in the world. We show films of all genres, formats, and lengths, as long as they’re daring, creative, and unique.
Deadlines:
Earlybird: $9 – December 5, 2009.
Regular: $15, ($10 for WAB members) – January 15, 2010.
Late: $20, ($15 for WAB) – February 15, 2010.
Without A Box Extended: $20 for WAB members – March 1, 2010
Plus, if you submit a work to Rooftop Films you automatically get 2 free tickets to any Rooftop Summer Series show (an $18 value).
You can mail any submissions to: Rooftop Films / PMB 401 / 285 Fifth Avenue / Brooklyn, NY 11215
If you have any questions regarding submissions, please email program director Dan Nuxoll at:
submit * at * rooftopfilms * dot * com.
Rooftop Films
Underground Movies Outdoors
718-417-7362
http://www.rooftopfilms.com
Two festivals, the Nashville Film Festival and the New Orleans Film Festival, are in the second year of a three-year grant worth a total of $75,000. The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival and the Virginia Film Festival are each in the third and final year of a multi-year grant, which also amounts to a total of $75,000.
While the grants are awarded for a variety of festival programs, organizers are encouraged to submit proposals intended to make festival events more accessible to the general public, provide greater access to minority and less visible filmmakers, and help strengthen the connection between filmmakers and the general public.
The 2010 film festival program allocations are as follows:
$30,000
Chicago International Children’s Film Festival
Cinequest Film Festival
Los Angeles Film Festival
Outfest: The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
Santa Barbara International Film Festival
$25,000
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
Nashville Film Festival
New Orleans Film Festival
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
Virginia Film Festival
$20,000
Ann Arbor Film Festival
Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital
San Diego Latino Film Festival
True/False Film Fest
$17,500
Provincetown International Film Festival
$15,000
San Francisco Silent Film Festival
St. Louis International Film Festival
$10,000
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
Indie Memphis Film Festival
Phoenix Film Festival
Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival
$2,500
Ozark Foothills FilmFest
The Women’s Film Festival
Tucson International Jewish Film Festival
Since its establishment in 1999, the Academy’s Festival Grants Program has distributed 222 grants totaling $3.95 million in funding. For more information on the program, visit http://www.oscars.org/education-outreach/grants/filmfestival/index.html.
Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will serve as co-hosts of the 82nd Academy Awards®, Oscar telecast producers Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman announced today.
“We think the team of Steve and Alec are the perfect pair of hosts for the Oscars,” said Shankman and Mechanic. “Steve will bring the experience of having hosted the show in the past and Alec will be a completely fresh personality for this event.”
“I am happy to co-host the Oscars with my enemy Alec Baldwin,” said Martin.
“I don’t play the banjo but I’m thrilled to be hosting the Oscars – it’s the opportunity of a lifetime,” said Baldwin.
Martin hosted the 73rd and 75th Academy Awards shows, earning an Emmy nomination for the first stint. He has also served as a presenter on the show several times, most recently at the ceremony in February when he appeared with Tina Fey. He is currently touring with the bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers in support of his latest album “The Crow: New Songs for the Five String Banjo.” In 1977 and 1978 Martin won Grammys for Best Comedy Recording. He earned a third Grammy in 2001 in the Best Country Instrumental Performance category. In 2007 Martin earned a Kennedy Center Honor.
Baldwin was nominated for an Academy Award in 2003 for his supporting role in “The Cooler.” That year also marked his most recent appearance as a presenter on the show. Baldwin currently stars as Jack Donaghy on the comedy “30 Rock,” a role for which he has won two Emmys (in 2008 and 2009). Baldwin earned a Tony nomination in 1992 for his performance in “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.
By Michelle Emanuel, Guest Blogger
Anyone who follows the world of indie film has surely heard the story of “Precious,” the Lee Daniels film that premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival as “Push,” an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Sapphire. The bleak yet compelling story of an obese 16-year-old girl, illiterate and pregnant for the second time by her father, pulled the rare hat trick of scoring both the grand prize and audience award of the festival, and then went on to score two executive producers in Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey, thus guaranteeing that what would have been an obscure film in a handful of theaters will now play in multiplexes.
And for this, we should count ourselves lucky, because this is a film that deserves to be seen in public, with a crowd and, preferably, discussed afterwards.
Set in 1987 Harlem, in an age of AIDS and crack, before welfare reform, Clareece Precious Jones lives with her abusive mother, Mary, while her first child lives a safer life with her grandmother. With her second pregnancy, Precious is transferred to an alternative school where she finally gets the personalized attention that she has always needed, and for the first time in her life, she is asked what she wants to be. Her classmates, other girls who were ill-suited for traditional schools , provide rare flickers of comic relief in what is a harrowing story. Precious is abused physically, sexually, and verbally by those who should be fighting on her behalf instead of trying to keep her down.
Why should anyone want to watch such an uncomfortable story? Because the performances are amazing. Famous faces from Mo’Nique to Lenny Kravitz to Mariah Carey to “The View’s” Sherri Shepherd are so committed to their roles, they are practically unrecognizable. But it is newcomer Gabourey Sidibe who is the true revelation of this film, and while she was chosen for the part because of her unique look, hopefully this will not be the only film of her career.
I saw a special screening of “Precious” as part of October’s Austin Film Festival, where the film played to a sold-out crowd of 1,300 people who managed to take a break from their conversations and cell phones to see something truly special. The fact that a film managed to hold their attention for nearly two hours is a testament to its power and appeal.
Because of all the hype this film has received, especially after Winfrey and Perry came on board and appeared at the Toronto Film Festival in September, I was bracing to be disappointed in the film itself. However, I am pleased to report, that never actually happened.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and mtvU, MTV’s 24-hour college network, today announced their second annual “Oscar Correspondent Contest,” giving college journalists nationwide the chance to win a trip to Los Angeles to cover red carpet festivities and backstage activities at the 82nd Academy Awards.
From October 26 through December 18, college students are invited to submit a video at http://oscars.mtvu.com, showcasing their broadcast journalism skills and proving why they deserve to cover the Oscars®. All videos submitted must be from teams made up of one anchor and one videographer. The Academy and mtvU will select the top ten videos to be posted online at mtvU.com, where students and other viewers can watch and vote for their favorite journalists from January 20 through February 10.
The three teams whose videos capture the most votes will advance to the final round of online voting from February 16 through March 2. All three teams will be flown to Los Angeles to cover Academy Awards pre-events, including the Animated Feature Symposium, Foreign Language Film Award press event, the Makeup Artist and Hairstylist Symposium and the Governors Ball preview.
The Grand Prize-winning team will be revealed on Saturday, March 6, at an Academy press conference. The anchor and videographer will be awarded a spot on the red carpet for the 82nd Academy Awards arrivals, as well as credentials for access to backstage press rooms. The winning team’s coverage will be aired on MTV News and mtvU. The two finalist teams will receive bleacher seats along the red carpet and admission to an Oscar viewing party.
Last year, Faheem Ahmed and Anish Patel from Rice University captured the Grand Prize and covered the red carpet at the 81st Academy Awards. Runners-up Megan Telles and Andrew Huse of San Diego State University, and Justin Shackil and Garry Van Genderen of Fordham University earned bleacher seats along the red carpet along with admission to an Oscar viewing party.
For a complete list of rules and regulations for the “Oscar Correspondent Contest,” please visit http://oscars.mtvu.com.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.
Graduate of University of Mississippi and former Oxonian, Ginnyann Reynolds, is an Associate Producer on the upcoming feature-length documentary, “An Inconvenient Tax,” that chronicles the history and explores the vast complexities of the American income tax system.
Reynolds, 34, never thought that a degree in psychology and English would lead her into becoming a film producer but after getting a job where she got to work on a few documentaries for television, she came upon the opportunity to work on a major feature documentary. The producers of the film invited her to join as associate producer due to the work she did for them on TV.
“I didn’t know a thing about taxes before starting this,” Reynolds said. “I got my degree in psychology and English from Ole Miss and now I am neck deep in politics and tax relief.”
Although Reynolds moved to Atlanta, her family remains in Oxford and she often returns to visit.
“I’m part of the Reynolds clan, the youngest of eight,” Reynolds said. “We are the type of family that every new teacher I had would say ‘ah I got my eye on you.’”
The film follows the history of the American income tax system and includes b-roll footage from horror films, which Reynolds said is quite fitting.
“It is really a little disturbing when you think about how the government and politicians use the tax system as a means of control,” Reynolds said. “We go into it in such a way that even an idiot like myself comprehends and becomes afraid of what is going on around them.”
The filmmakers are non-partisan and made the film in order to educate Americans on the way the tax system works and to begin an intellectual debate on long term changes rather than fly-by-night reforms, Reynolds said.
“We approach the subject to motivate people,” Reynolds said. “It is definitely not a Michael Moore film because we do not bash America.”
Reynolds said she enjoyed being an associate producer because it allows you to take on a wide variety of jobs.
“I was glad I was not the director not only because these people are so high on the social and intellectual ladder that we got to interview but also as director you get pigeon holed,” Reynolds said. “But when in a job like this, as a producer, there is no telling what you are going to be doing that day.”
Reynolds helped with interviews, did research, and a variety of other tasks.
“The skills and confidence that I gained through my education at Ole Miss assisted me with channeling my creative intuition in planning and writing pertinent portions of the movie, researching movie facts and ideas to ensure the accuracy of the information and using my communication prowess to successfully gaining access to many hard-to-reach governmental figures and departments,” Reynolds said.
Among the high-profile people Reynolds helped interview for the film are: Steve Forbes (Forbes, Inc); Mike Huckabee (Former Arkansas Governor); Charles Rossotti (Former IRS Commissioner); Noam Chomsky (Political Activist); Neal Boortz (Radio Host); Herman Cain (Radio Host); Scott Hodge (Tax Foundation); John Linder (U.S. Congressman); Dick Armey (Former House Majority Leader); plus many others.
The film is currently under consideration for distribution with several major companies but Reynolds said she hopes to get the film out to the public before April 15.
For more information, visit www.aninconvenienttax.com.
As published in the Oxford Town on Oct. 29.
