1000 Years of Good Prayers
Wayne Wang | USA | 2007 | 83 mins | PG

Mr. Shi (Henry O) plays a dignified and quiet widower living in Beijing. Upon learning that his daughter, Yilan (Faye Yu), is going through a divorce, Mr. Shi decides to travel to Spokane, Washington to visit her with the intention of staying with her and helping her to get over the ‘trauma of divorce’. However, it has been 12 years since they have last met, and Yilan feels his visit is most unwelcome – both in his attempts to rescue her marriage and to reconstruct her life. Feeling resentful of his presence, Yilan finds excuses to leave her father alone in her apartment, only seeing him for dinner when he cooks for her. Thrust out of his daughter’s life, Mr. Shi struggles to take in the strange culture of small-town Spokane. To calm himself, he begins to visit a local park, where he meets Madam (Vida Ghahremani), an older Iranian woman living with her son. Despite their language barrier, both lonely souls communicate with each other and a friendship is forged. Eventually, Mr. Shi’s attempts to communicate with Yilan come to fruition, and both are forced to confront and communicate the deep-buried issues between them.

Through this film, Wang paints a vivid picture of the inability to communicate with one’s family members, and the feeling that the closest things can sometimes be the farthest away.

Worldwide Distributors:
Mikado Film
International Sales:The
Match Factory GmbH Eduard-Schmid-Str. 13 D- 81541 Munich Germany
Tel: +49 89/ 2000 120 -0
Fax: +49 89/ 2000 120 -10
Email: sales@matchfactory.de
Website: http://www.the-match-factory.com

33 Days
Mai Masri | Lebanon | 2007 | 70 mins | PG

In this gripping documentary, award-winning Palestinian filmmaker Mai Masri takes us beyond the cold statistics and muted news stories and right into the gritty reality and the incredible courage demonstrated by the victims of war.

Filmed during the Israeli war on Lebanon in the summer of 2006, 33 Days features the real-life stories of four people: a theatre director working with children who took shelter in a theatre after their homes were destroyed, a frontline journalist for an underground television station, an aid worker who coordinated emergency relief efforts for thousands of displaced people, and a newsdesk director trying to cope with her new-born baby amid the destruction and chaos around her.

Through their creativity and courage, the film tells some of the untold stories of the survivors in Beirut. 33 Days was awarded the Special Tribute Prize in the Al-Kassaba International film Festival in Palestine in 2007.

World sales:
Jean Chamoun
Maamari Street, Majdalani Building
Beirut, Lebanon
Tel: 961-1-374536
Fax: 961-1-372801
Email: maijean@cyberia.net.lb

A Jihad for Love
Parvez Sharma | USA / UK / Germany / France / Australia | 2007 | 81 mins | TBA

Jihad – ‘an inner struggle’ or “to strive in the path of God”

A brave and daring documentary filmed over five-and-a-half years, in 12 countries and nine languages. A Jihad for Love by gay Muslim filmmaker Parvez Sharma chronicles his journey as he travels the world to various Muslim communities to interview subjects who identify themselves as gay and lesbian.

The first documentary to provide a comprehensive world view of homosexual people living within Muslim communities, A Jihad for Love explores the tricky intersection of Islam with Homosexuality. Rather than renouncing their faith or sexuality, the subjects in this film struggle to reconcile the faith in their belief with the reality of their being.

World Sales Company:
Andrew Herwitz
Film Sales Company
165 Madison Avenue Suite 601
New York, NY 10016
Tel: 646 274 0945
Fax: 646 274 0923
Email: andrew.herwitz@filmsalescorp.com

All My Friends are Leaving Brisbane
Louise Alston | Australia | 2007 | 76 mins | TBA

Anthea (Charlotte Gregg) is undergoing a crisis of confidence – she is overworked at her law firm, single, and is seriously considering moving to London where she believes the grass is greener. However, her platonic friend Michael (Matt Zeremis) is opposed to the idea, believing that people who leave Brisbane are copycats who follow the crowd. Michael is quite happy to stay in Brisbane, in his stable job and a relationship of convenience with his ex-girlfriend, Stephanie.

When Anthea hears that her ex-boyfriend, Jake, is moving back to Brisbane from London, Anthea believes that she may have a future with him, much to Michael’s annoyance. At the same time, Michael starts a new relationship with Simone, a girl he meets at work. However, Simone is a little different from his usual girlfriends and he finds himself in a relationship he cannot control.

Finally, on Anthea’s last day in Australia, Anthea and Michael come out and resolve their emotions over leaving, as well as their feelings for each other.

Production Company:
Bunker Productions International
PO Box 874 Ultimo, NSW Australian, 2007
Tel: +61 (0) 413 330 776

Distributor:
117 Bridport Street Albert Park VIC 3206 Austraila
Tel : + 613 9690 9997
Email: info@accentfilm.com

American Zombie
Grace Lee | USA | 2007 | 95 mins | TBA

Documentarian Grace Lee turns her camera on a community in Los Angeles that is getting zombified by a strange virus. In this droll mockumentary, she depicts a slice of the afterlife of this misunderstood subculture.

Grace appears as herself, the naturalistic documentarian. Her handheld camera follows four zombies, who look just like anyone else except for their decaying flesh. Joel, a zombie activist and founder of the Zombie Advocacy Group; Ivan, a convenience store clerk who aspires to be a writer; Judy, a customer-service rep who denies her zombiness to fit into mainstream society; and Lisa, a new-agey florist.

The burning question of the film is: Are there still flesh-eating zombies, even among the nice civilised ones? Or is that just a culturally insensitive myth? (The zombie activist denies it – “Are there flesh-eating humans?” he shoots back.) The film, an over-the-top satire of race relations, pursues this question to the bitter end.

World Sales Company:
iHQ Inc.
4th/Fl Sambo Bldg., 88 Samseong 1-dong, Gangnam-gu,
Seoul, South Korea
Tel: 82 02 6005 6735
Fax: 82 2 6005 6004
Email: clairelim@sidushq.com
Website: http://www.sidushq.com

Amina
Khadija Al-Salami | Yemen | 2007 | 75 mins | PG

Amina is a chilling documentary portraying the legal and societal injustices faced by Yemeni women. The film tells the story of Yemenite Amina al-Tuhaif, who at 11 years old was married off to a man many years her senior, and at 14, sentenced to death for the murder of her husband after being tried without legal representation. Scheduled for execution in 2002, when she would be of legal age to hang under Yemen laws, Amina was found to be pregnant after being raped by a prison guard and her execution was pushed to 2005.

Khadija Al-Salami, an award-winning filmmaker from Yemen, became aware of Amina's tragic story through newspaper reports and began conducting interviews with the young woman while visiting her in prison. Using first-hand accounts and dramatic reconstruction, the film chronicles Amina's daily prison life, her last-minute reprieves and her persistent appeals to clear her name for a crime she says she did not commit.

Production Company / World Sales:
Al Salami 57, quai de Grenelle, 75015 Paris
Tel: +330621011254
Fax: +33145759525
Email: kalsalam@yahoo.com

Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens
Barbara Leibovitz | USA | 2007 | 90 mins | TBA

This documentary about Annie Leibovitz, directed by her sister Barbara gives the viewer a deeper insight into the woman who has produced some of the most iconic images of the last 30 years. Barbara Leibovitz's smart documentary piece on Annie follows her evolution from art school student to one of the most influential American photographers today.

Annie worked as the chief photographer of Rolling Stone in the 1970s; her shift to portrait artist for Vanity Fair provides the timeline for the film. She has shot the rich and famous, the scholarly and powerful, the prodigious and notorious. Her versatile subjects, be it rocker Keith Richards, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Hillary Clinton, are universal in their praise: when she is allowed to follow someone, she comes up with beautiful and illuminating shots.

Her camera has also captured the horrors of war in Sarajevo and Rwanda. Consummate at exposing her photographic subjects, Annie's own life has been private and shielded. In this film, the viewer gets to follow her on a personal journey and how she balances fame, family and the camera. Barbara visits Annie at the family's rural homestead, amid the latter's hectic work on a new photographic collection. She begins to reveal, on-camera, the many layers of her sister's personality and world view. The viewer will experience Annie's current work; her losses as well as her achievements. Her private life -- uncontrolled drug abuse, a relationship with Susan Sontag, raising three children as a single mother -- is touched on in Life Through a Lens.

World Sales:
Fortissimo Films
Head Office
Van Diemenstraat 100 ,1013 CN, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tel: +31 20 627 32 15
Fax: +31 20 626 11 55
E-mail: info@fortissimo.nl

Arabs and Terrorism
Bassam Haddad | USA | 2007 | 135 mins | TBA

Researched in six different languages, 11 countries, 120 experts and politicians as well as hundreds of street interviews, this fast-paced documentary is determined to unearth what is said about Arabs and Terrorism. Tired of empty rhetoric about the fight against terrorism from Washington, D.C. neo-conservatives (and curious of many assertions made by the Bush administration), Arab-American filmmaker Bassam Haddad decided to seek the truth for himself, camera-in-hand, and thus sparks an impassioned dialogue between right-wing American policymakers and Middle Eastern political factions.

Haddad's method of documentary involves having interviews with political power-players on each side of the transcontinental (and trans-ideological) fence - American and Arab; recording each interview on his laptop; and having each interviewee view and respond to allegations made by the other side. The result is a documentary that dares to journey into waters seldom treaded by other filmmakers, by travelling right to the core of the ideological debate that lies behind the war on terror and investigating what the Arab people actually think, believe and desire -- independent of media bias.

World Sales:
Arab Film Distribution
AFD / Typecast
3131 Western Ave, Suite #514, Seattle, WA 98121
Tel (9:00-5:00 PST): (206) 322-0882, (888) 591-3456
Fax: (206) 322-4586

Art of Negative Thinking, The
Bård Breien | Norway | 2006 | 79 mins | R21

After Geirr (Fridtjov Saheim) becomes severely handicapped in a traffic accident, he develops a deep bitterness that makes him difficult to live with. He seems determined to stay at home and watch Vietnam movies and listen to Johnny Cash albums with a handgun close to him, wallowing in his pathetic state. His girlfriend Ingvild (Kirsti Eline Torhaug) can’t stand him any longer, and in desperation she invites a municipal positivity group to their home in order to help Geirr. Geirr agrees in order to save their sinking relationship.

Soon, the psychologist Tori (Kjersti Holmen) and her group, comprising of the blonde beauty Marta (Marian Saastad Ottesen), her guilt-obsessed boyfriend Gard (Henrik Mestad) and the angry paraplegic Asbjorn (Per Schaaning) are embroiled in a struggle as they try to get Geirr to see the world in a better light. However, Geirr forces everyone in the group through a series of desperate tasks in order to test them as they undergo 24 hours of pure hell in this off-beat black comedy.

This film won director Bard Breien a Best Director at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

World sales:
Nordisk Film International Sales
Mosedalvej 14, 2500 Valby, Denmark
Tel: +45 3618 8200
Fax: +45 3618 9550

Band’s Visit, The
Eran Kolirin | Israel | 2007 | 89 mins | NC16

Whilst all the quibbling and politicking creates imaginary distances between people, artists work quietly to restore human relations to their basic essentials. Israeli director Eran Kolirin presents such an effort in his film The Band’s Visit, a warm and simple film about a small, uniformed Egyptian police band’s encounter with native Israelis.

The Alexandria Ceremonial Police Band are invited to perform at the opening of an Israeli cultural centre, but by a twist of fate and bad logistical arrangements they find themselves lost and stranded for a night in a tiny Israeli desert town. The awkward and tentative interactions between the foreigners and the locals slowly ease into increased bicultural understanding and appreciation, lubricated by the melody and rhythm of music.

At the core of the film is neither overt sentimentality nor political assertion, but the kindred spirit of friendship. Kolirin’s film is a small dove of hope against the backdrop of an exacerbating Arab-Israeli conflict.

World Sales:
Bleiberg Entertainment
9454 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills CA 90212 USA.
Tel: (310) 273-0007
Email: sales@bleibergent.com

Beyond the Call
Adrian Belic | USA | 2006 | 82 mins | PG

“We do what we can, when we can, because we can.”

In this Indiana-Jones-meets-Mother-Teresa adventure, it is with the above philosophy that three middle-aged men, former soldiers and modern-day knights travel the world delivering life-saving humanitarian aid directly into the hands of civilians and doctors. Ed Artis, James Laws and Walt Ratterman inspire through their deeds, not words, in some of the most dangerous yet beautiful places on Earth. Knightsbridge International is a unique humanitarian organization which they started, whose motto is "High Adventure and Service to Humanity." These unlikely heroes go to places where death from landmines, bullets, or bombs is as frequent as death from hunger, disease, or the elements. The camera follows these three men to where their personal convictions and courage drive them, on a journey into the heart of humanity.

This hilarious but heart-wrenching film by the directors of Academy-Award-nominated film Genghis Blues, has garnered the attention and touched the hearts of audiences and juries around the world, having picked up a number of awards from prestigious film festivals across the US.

World Sales:
Contact: Dave Phillips (Agent)
Edmonds Entertainment
Los Angeles. CA
Tel: (323) 860-1572
Email: dspcorner@aol.com

Bomb It!
Jon Reiss | USA | 2007 | 93 mins | TBA

Bomb It! is the explosive new documentary from award-winning director Jon Reiss. It investigates the most subversive and controversial art form currently shaping international youth culture: graffiti.

Using a myriad of original interviews from around the world as well as guerilla footage of graffiti artists in action, BOMB IT tells the story of contemporary graffiti from its roots in ancient rock paintings through Picasso to Latino placas through its notorious emergence as a visual adjunct to the rise of hip hop culture in 1970's New York City culminating in its current, varied and highly complex form.

Featuring old school legends and current favorites such as Taki 183, Cornbread, Stay High 149, T-Kid, Zephyr, Revs, KET, Chino, Revok, and Mear One, this cutting-edge documentary tracks down today's most innovative and pervasive street artists as they battle for control over the urban visual landscape. You'll never look at public space the same way again.

World Sales:
Katapult Film Sales
8490 Santa Monica Blvd, Suite 5
West Hollywood, CA 90069 USA
Tel: +1 310 358-0303
Fax: +1 310 358-0333
Email: anna@katapultfilms.com

Brand Upon the Brain
Guy Maddin | Canada | 2006 | 95 mins | TBA

Described by The New York Times as “nuttilily wonderful” and “one of the year's 10 best films”, Brand Upon the Brain tells the tale of young Guy Maddin and his teenage sister living on a mysterious island which they share with a horde of orphans. They all live together in the lighthouse which doubles as the orphanage. Guy’s overbearing and tyrannical mother watches their every move from the top of the lighthouse, while his father, a scientist works away in the basement.

The family attracts unwanted attention when the new parents of recently adopted children are found to have mysterious head wounds. Brother and sister sleuths Wendy and Chance Hale pay a visit to Guy's island to launch an investigation. The siblings find themselves deeply attracted to their new guests and especially Sis's love for Chance, but must keep it hidden from Mother at all costs.

What ensues leads them down the dark path of disclosure and repression as the family's secrets are unveiled. Brand Upon the Brain is Guy Maddin’s work at its paradoxically most intelligent and adventurous!

World Sales:
Celluloid Dreams
The Directors Label
2 Rue Turgot, 75009 Paris, France
Tel: +33 1 4970 0370
Fax: + 33 1 4970 0371
Email: info@celluloid-dreams.com
Website: www.celluloid-dreams.com

Cargo 200
Alexey Balabanov | Russia | 2007 | 90 mins | TBA

“I was aware from the very beginning that “Cargo 200” would be a scandalous film. That people would talk about it, that many would not like it but that it would leave no one indifferent” – Alexey Balabanov

Experimental Russian filmmaker Alexey Balabanov returns to the independent cinema circuit with his 11th film - the controversial Cargo 200. With a title coming from a euphemism for the bodies of dead soldiers being shipped back from Afghanistan after the war; this film is touted by critics as one of the most significant Russian offerings in recent times.

Labelled the “Russian David Lynch” by the Independent, Balabanov provides us with a harsh, unflinching look at the violence pervading Russian society in 1984 - at the brink of the undeclared death of the Soviet Era.

Cargo 200 is an autopsy of the USSR - depicting the bleak state of several families and their intersecting fates. After a night out at the discotheque, the daughter of the secretary of the regional communist party goes missing. The same night, a brutal murder takes place in a house on the outskirts of the province. Chief militia captain Zhurov starts on his investigations on both crimes.

With an assortment of Russian pop songs in the 80s as its soundtrack, Cargo 200 is a persistently nostalgic criminal drama that will impose its inevitable weight on the viewer’s imagination.

World Sales Company:
Intercinema
Druzhinnikovskay Street 15, 12342 Moscow, Russia
Tel: +7 495 255 90 52
Fax: +7 495 255 90 53
Email: kino@ctb.ru

David the Tolhildan
Mano Khalil | Kurdistan / Switzerland | 2007 | 54 mins | TBA

Five years ago, David Rouiller ran away from his life in Switzerland; giving up the amenities of his western lifestyle to commit his life to joining the Kurdish freedom movement PKK. If this is not cause for surprise in itself, we learn that this man is the son of a former President of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court.

Director Mano Khalil follows this man’s journey in his documentary as adjusts to his new surroundings and questions the motives for his actions. Is he escaping or confronting his fears and insecurities? Is he an adventurer, a dreamer, an idealist or a hero? Is his commitment visionary or illusory?

David the Tohildan provides an insightful and contemporary observation of the Kurdish freedom movement and the country’s political situation. Most importantly, the documentary also serves as a mirror for the audience to reflect our own outlook on oppression, respect, human dignity, freedom and violence.

Production/ Distribution/ International Sales:
Olivenweg 5 – CH 3018 Bern – Switzerland
Tel: 0041 31 992 8893 / 0041 78 832 8473
Email: mano.khalil@bluemail.ch

Déficit
Gael Garcia Bernal | Mexico | 2007 | 79 mins | TBA

The film begins with the arrival of Cristobal at his mansion in Tepoztlan, where he has planned a gathering with his friends. Throughout the day, the film documents Cristobal’s behavior, his interaction with his friends and his sister Elisa – a 17-year-old hippie. Deficit takes the audience though a day in the life of Cristobal, a 20-something spoilt brat from the upper classes of Mexican society.

Cristobal’s father is a corrupt high-ranking Mexican politician who spends most of his time away from home negotiating shady deals. Lost, confused and alienated from familial love, Cristobal plunges into a life of wild parties and drug-fuelled binges.

Through Cristobal’s relationship with his friends and his housekeepers, and the mansion he lives in, Deficit explores, with devastating insight, the class tension that occurs within this microcosm of contemporary Mexican society.

World Sales:
Contact: Carmen Jimenez Fernandez
SOGEPAQ Internacional
Leganitos 47, 4 - 7
Madrid 28013, Spain
Tel: +34 91 758 31 46
Fax: +34 91 758 31 65
Website: http://www.sogepaq.es

Donkey in Lahore
Faramarz K-Rahberq | Australia | 2007 | 117 mins | TBA

This heartwarming documentary follows the extraordinary of an Australian puppeteer who, after travelling to a festival in Lahore, Pakistan, meets and falls in love with the then 17 year old Amber, a Muslim girl. When he travels back to Brisbane, the young puppeteer started studying Islam and eventually converted to the religion. Aamir, as he was called from then on, wanted to marry the girl he loved at all costs. Two years after their encounter, Aamir finally saved enough money to travel back to Lahore and ask for her hand in marriage.

Aamir's struggle to marry Amber is full of obstacles as he battles the Australian immigration system, countless trips between the two countries, his religious conversion, lifestyle changes and the stern disapproval of Amber's parents.

Director Faramarz K-Rahber followed Aamir's journey for several years as he negotiated cultural differences and tricky social situations; portraying the young man's unusual story and sensitive soul through observation and interviews.

Production / World Sales Company:
Faraway Productions Pty Ltd
PO Box 1602, Carindale, Q 4152, AUSTRALIA
Email: info@faraway.com.au
Website: www.faraway.com.au

Driving to Zigzigland
Nicole Ballivian | USA, Palestine | 2006 | 92 mins | TBA

Shot in Jerusalem, Ramallah and Los Angeles, Driving to Zigzigland is a chronicle of a day in the life of Bashar, a Palestinian cab driver in Los Angeles. Bashar holds tight onto the American Dream of becoming an actor in Hollywood but also longs to go back home to his legitimate theatre acting job in Palestine, despite the Israeli occupation.

In Los Angeles, a film audition typecasts Bashar to play an Al Qaeda terrorist role. When Bashar gets home, he realizes the utilities are due and he has 24 hours to find the money. For the remaining hours left, an unceasing flow of passengers ride in Bashar’s taxi and give the Arab cabbie the run-around on issues that deal with suicide bombers, George Bush, Cat Stevens, the war in Iraq, Rai music and world geography. In a post 9/11 American day, Bashar falls under the watchful eye of the F.B.I. and suffers a massive blow from the bureaucracy of the former INS, now Homeland Security.

All the while, Bashar’s nostalgia of the Al Kassaba Theater in Ramallah, poses the question of whether or not the American Dream is an idea really worth fighting for. Bashar’s quest to make the money is won until he realizes he must choose between the Department of Homeland Security and his own family.

World Sales:
Anas Khalaf (Agent)
Email:
anas@drivingtozigzigland.com
Tel: +33.6.89.83.07.35

Enemy Within, The
Sandra Rodriguez | Canada | 2006 | 48 mins | PG

The Enemy Within tells the story of a Nation’s ongoing fight against invisible enemies. In Cambodia today, 6 million landmines are still threatening to injure or kill anyone who comes across their way. Amputated, wounded, the survivors must face enemies buried deep within: the acceptance of an injured body, a mutilated future, social stigma and isolation.

As 2007 commemorated the 10th anniversary of the Ottawa Treaty - a convention signed by 154 countries demanding the banning and destruction of landmines- the film gives voice to thousands of individuals amputated each year by these objects of destruction. A decade later, what do we know about these survivors? After the war, after the genocide, after the amputation and the treaty, what do they dream of, what do they hope for?

Finishing the Game
Justin Lin | USA | 2007 | 83 mins | TBA

Finishing the Game is a hilarious, eccentric and whimsical mockumentary directed by Justin Lee (The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift). The scenario: In 1973, the sudden and unexpected death of Bruce Lee, iconic martial arts phenomenon of the 70s, caused a sudden halt in production of his last film, uncannily titled Game of Death.

Finishing the Game (the title should be self-explanatory by now) picks up from where work was left off and reproduces for audiences the hypothetical situation faced at the time by the producers and directors of that fateful movie. With only 12 minutes of usable footage at hand, the producers make the brave decision to forge ahead towards the completion of the film.

Thick with irony and satire, Finishing the Game documents the producers’ search for the “next Bruce Lee”. They are presented with an array of implausible, wannabe candidates, each replete with his own list of idiosyncrasies and quirks. There’s Breeze Loo, an ethnic Asian who hops around in a blue suit, there’s a White Anglo-Saxon Sinophile who is an activist for Asian rights in his spare time, and the list goes on.

Politically incorrect jokes, all versions of strangely accented English and multiple deadpan moments pervade this piece. Watch to find out who ends up with the coveted role as Bruce Lee’s stand- in!

World Sales:
IFC Films
323 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY10014
Tel: 212.924.7771
ifcfilmsinfor@ifcfilms.com

Flicker Fest: The Bold The Brave The Best
Bruce Petty et al. | Australia | 2007 | 100 mins | NC16

Curated by Academy-Award-nominated animator, Anthony Lucas, from the animations that have inspired his career, The Bold, The Brave, The Best is a collection of homegrown Australian animation that has won awards and acclaim around the world.

Highlights of this 20-piece compilation include award-winning iconic television commercials, Louie The Fly, Life Be In It and Aeroplane Jelly alongside award- winning shorts by famous Australian animators including Sarah Watt, Adam Elliot, Wendy Chandler and Bruce Petty (winner of the first Academy award for Australian animation 1970).

Summary of Shorts:
1. Leisure - Bruce Petty
2. Crust - John Hughes
3. Union Street - Wendy Chandler
4. Tiga - Lucinda Clutterbuck
5. One Man’s Instrument - Max Bannah
6. TVC KO Hairspray Bears
7. Redback - Robert Stephenson
8. Cousin - Adam Elliot
9. TVC SPC Baked Beans and Spaghetti
10. Love Song - Bruce Currie
11. Slim Pickings - Anthony Lucas
12. Ward 13 - Peter Cornwell
13. TVC Jaffa’s – Life’s a Ball
14. Cane Toads - Andrew Silke & David Clayton
15. TVC Life Be In It - Song version
16. Democracy Leunig - Andrew Horne
17. VC Life Be In It - Newcombe version
18. Darra Dogs - Dennis Tupicoff
19. Birthday Boy - Seejong Park
20.TISM Everyone else has had more sex than me

Gallipoli
Peter Weir | Australia | 1981 | 110 mins | TBA

Gallipoli is the story of two young Australian sprinters, Frank Dunne (Mel Gibson) and Archy Hamilton (Mark Lee) who enlist during World War I to participate in the fateful Gallipoli campaign, in which Australian and New Zealand troops set out to capture Istanbul. Not completely a war epic, the first half of the film documents the lives of the two men in Australia, from their time as competitors in a sports country meet, to their long journey to Perth for enlistment. While Frank initially has no interest in the war, it is his growing friendship with Archy that brings both of them to enlist. Against a stunning natural Australian landscape, Peter Weir details their beliefs and attitudes towards World War I as they travel to Perth.

The second half of the film shifts the viewer to Cairo as the two recruits go about their training. Finally, both are called to the fateful battle of Gallipoli, where the mistakes made by senior military commanders lead to the failure of the campaign. On a lonely beach with the Allied forces under fire from the Turkish forces, one sees the pointlessness of war, the lost innocence of Frank and Archy, and their beautiful bond of friendship that makes Gallipoli a thought-provoking piece.

Global Metal
Scot McFadyen, Sam Dunn | Canada | 2007 | 93 mins | TBA

Traipsing across countries as diverse as Iran, Poland, the Americas, Brazil, India, China and Japan, directors Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen present an inquest into the heart of one of the most misunderstood and stereotyped musical genres of all time – Heavy Metal.

It is a noise redolent of car crashes and asylums, a music incomprehensible to parents and moon-eyed university professors, a performance affiliated with unorthodox and provocative appearances – in Japan, this is known as visual kei, a movement pioneered by Japanese metal-pioneers themselves, X Japan. What is this common vein that pulses throughout the global world of metal music? What is Metal’s broad appeal that reaches all corners of the earth? Who belongs to this cult of metal?

Why did Kurt Cobain’s death take on the proportions of a national tragedy – like the death a head of state would have? Across the Pacific Ocean, what did Hide’s death mean for the thousands of mourning Japanese fans lining the streets on the day of his funeral? What is metal like in Tehran? The sound has broken through nearly every cultural barrier and it takes a metal fan himself, Sam Dunn, to explain it.

World Sales:
Seville Pictures inc.
147, rue Saint-Paul Ouest, Bureau 200 Montreal, Quebec H2Y 1Z5
Tel: (514) 841-1910
Email: info@sevillepictures.com
Website: www.sevillepictures.com

Happy Desert
Paulo Caldas | Brazil / Germany | 2007 | 88 mins | TBA

Jéssica is 16 and lives with her mother Maria and her step-father Biu in a village on the São Francisco River in eastern Brazil. Bui works at one of the vineyards that have sprung up on the other side of the river. Thanks to the vineyard's irrigation system, the whole valley is booming. However, this prosperity has not had much of an effect on Jéssica's family. Biu earns a bit of extra cash with the illegal sale of rare wild animals. As for Jéssica, her life revolves around school and her afternoons are spent with her mother and her girlfriends. One day, Jéssica is raped by Biu. Maria urges her not to report the crime to the police.

All at once, Jéssica's world is in ruins. Like so many girls who suffer a similar fate, Jéssica starts working as a prostitute. At first she works the streetwalking district nearby, but then a lorry diver takes her with him to Recife, where Jéssica starts a new round of nightclubs and paid sex with tourists. After her night's work in the "Amazonas" bar, she goes back every morning to a shabby apartment run by an old prostitute named Dona de Vaga, who lives on the exorbitant rent she extorts from her young colleagues for their miserable rooms. Yet Jéssica still has a dream. Like many of her colleagues, she waits for the right man to come along and fall in love with her. Soon, she meets a German named Mark. She soon begins to fantasise about sharing a life of plenty with him in a cold, wintry country.

World Sales:
Mdc International Gmbh
Contact: Maren Kroymann
Schillerstrasse 7a 10625 Berlin
Tel: 030-26497900
Mobile: 0172-9570051
Email: maren.kroymann@mdc-int.de

Hard-Hearted, The
Alexei Mizgiryov | Russia | 2007 | 90 mins | NC16

Winner of the Jury Award at the 7th Marrakesh International Film Festival 2007, the debut feature film by Alexei Mizgiryov takes you into the heart of Moscow and the rough life on her streets. Young, idealistic and impressionable Anton (Yevegni Antropov) has rosy fantasies about the Russian capital, but only because his childhood love Zina (Anastasiya Bezborodova) moved there with her family when they were young.

When he finally realizes his dream of visiting the city, he arrives to a Moscow too disquieting and dark for dreamers like him. His sunshine of innocence begins to get clouded by complicated relationships and the fickleness of human favour. The once-lovely Zina behaves coldly towards him, leaving him bewildered and empty at the unexpected loss of love. To compound his predicament, Anton later gets embroiled in troubles with the corrupt police force. Disillusioned, he decides to join the police force and becomes apprentice to the infamously cruel Chakhlov, who teaches him the tricks of the trade, training him psychologically – he introduces the hows and whys of mind-games -- and the art of violence.

The once innocuous Anton then embarks on a mortifying path towards Moscow’s daunting underground world, and takes us along for a chilling ride.

I’m Not There
Todd Haynes | USA | 2007 | 135 mins | TBA

“I is another” – poet Arthur Rimbaud

Gay director Todd Haynes evokes this line from the French poet when asked to explain the title of his latest feature. Besides being the name of a famously elusive, unreleased track from singer Bob Dylan’s famed basement tapes session, the title illustrates the theme of personal displacement and multiple identities persistent in I’m Not There.

After his last outing immortalizing music legend David Bowie in Velvet Goldmine (1998), and his critically-acclaimed Douglas Sirk-inspired Far From Heaven (2002), Todd Haynes shifts his attention to tackle one of the most highly anticipated music biopics of recent times. I’m Not There is the first film endorsed by the notoriously reclusive Bob Dylan about his life.

Christian Bale, the late Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, Ben Wishaw, Marcus Carl Franklin and Cate Blanchett - six stellar actors portray the life and times of Bob Dylan in this unconventional film. They flesh him out in a series of shifting personas, the public to the private to the fantastical – weaving together a rich and colourful portrait of this American icon.

Poet, prophet, outlaw, fake, electric star, rock and roll martyr, born-again Christian – seven identities braided together, into a tapestry as dense and vibrant as the era it inspired.

International Sales:
Celluloid Dreams
2 rue Turgot, 75009 Paris, France.
Tel: (33-1) 4970-0370
Fax: (33-1) 4970-0371
Email: info@celluloid-dreams.com

In the Shadow of the Light
Sarah Payton, Chris Teerink | The Netherlands | 2007 | 93 mins | TBA

‘Documentary… it’s when somebody makes a film on a certain subject with the intention of revealing, telling everything about it that is important. It is the kind of film I hate.’ – Jonas Mekas

Halfway through this documentary about this multi-hyphenated octogenarian, the interviewee dismisses the very genre itself. The filmmakers are quick to defend themselves, calling their film a ‘document’ rather than a ‘documentary’.

In the Shadow of the Light follows the surprisingly sprightly Mekas as he goes about his running of the 37-year-old Anthology Film Archives in New York City. But wait a minute, Mekas is not just any multi-hyphenated octogenarian, and Anthology is not just any film archive.

This visionary man is not only the founder of the largest archives of experimental and avant-garde film (over 11, 000 films and 3000 videos), he is also considered as the inventor of the ‘diary film’. Despite his age, Mekas is actively running the archive as its artistic director, and has gamely decided to experiment with the online medium, making 365 short films within a year to be uploaded onto his website.

It is his eagerness and relentless fervor to celebrate life that makes this ‘document’ an inspirational whirlwind ride. In the Shadow of the Light is a film about his love for the moving image, in particular the small, fragile, independent work which Anthology preserves and promotes, and which Mekas himself personifies.

World Sales Contact:
Sarah Payton and Chris Teerink
Albatrospad 134, 1021 TR Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tel: +31 614 303006
Email: spayton@xs4all.nl

Irina Palm
Sam Garbarski | Germany / Belgium / Luxembourg / UK / France | 2007 | 103 mins | M18

Desperate times call for desperate measures. When her beloved grandson Olly falls gravely ill, 50 year-old widow Maggie (Marianne Faithfull) finds herself ready to take on a job as a hostess (read: sex worker) to raise the necessary funds to send him to Australia for the needed medical treatment.

Miki (Miki Manojlovic) is the owner of Sexy World, a seedy bar huddled off the streets of Soho. Here, Maggie learns the art of giving first-class handjobs under the pseudonym of “Irina Palm” – male customers insert themselves through a hole in the wall (called the glory hole) and Maggie works from the other side of the wall, preserving, for some time, her anonymity. She soon becomes increasingly successful leading to pay raises and an increased self-esteem – this is the one thing, ironically, that she realises she is good at.

However, concealing her newfound source of income proves to be tricky and when her secret life is exposed, Maggie’s son (Olly’s father) refuses to accept her money. Emotional wrangling and more tragicomedy ensue; Sam Garbarski’s film presents a dramatic social commentary with light-hearted moments and much to chew on when the credits roll. This film was nominated for the Golden Bear for Best Film at the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival.

World Sales Company:
Pyramide International
5, rue du Chevalier de Saint George - 75008 Paris
Tel : +33.1.42.96.02.20
Fax : +33.1.40.20.05.5
Email: pricher@pyramidefilms.com

Kid and I, The
Penelope Spheeris | USA | 2005 | 93 mins | TBA

Aaron Roman, the diminutive son of billionaire Davis Roman, suffers from cerebral palsy but his one big dream is to star in an action film. Aaron’s father, a tycoon decides to fulfill his wish and hires down-and-out actor, Bill William, to make his son’s dream come true.

Bill is pleased to find himself hired to write a sequel for the film that made him a star more than a decade ago. However, when he learns who his co-star is, what appeared to be a golden opportunity for a major comeback quickly spirals into a series of outrageous misadventures.

As the pair embark on their project, they discover that it takes much more courage to face the challenges of real life than it does fighting bad guys on the big screen.

Although Aaron knows very little about acting, his tenacious spirit, optimism and unconditional friendship turns out to be an important and enduring gift to Bill.

There are several cameos from Linda Hamilton , Arnold Schwarzenegger and director Penelope Spheeris.

World Sales:
Slowhand Cinema Releasing
433 N. Camden Drive, Suite 400
47 Wilshire Blvd, 3rd Floor, Beverly Hills, CA 90210 Los Angeles, CA 90010
Tel: 1-866-372-0222

Lady Chatterley
Pascale Ferran | France / Belgium / UK | 2006 | 168 mins | TBA

"Lady Chatterley," as French Filmmaker Pascale Ferran titles her rapturous film, is the classic story by D H Lawrence, of noblewoman Constance Chatterley's doomed passion for the gamekeeper of her disabled husband.

Through her affair with the gamekeeper, Lady Chatterley opens herself up, both physically and emotionally, in ways she never imagined possible, and undergoes a spiritual awakening and a rebirth, amidst the tightening grips of a moralistic society.

While the film grapples with turbulent emotions and conflicting desires amidst the sensual world that lies just outside the door of society's rigid structures, there is also a sense that things are the way they should be. Imbuing every frame with tension and the rampant energy of self-discovery, Lady Chatterley and her lover probe and push all known boundaries as they embark on an unstoppable journey that also breaks through social mores and class structures.

Winner of five Cesar Awards (the French equivalent of the Oscars) including Best Film.

World Sales:
FILMS DISTRIBUTION
34, rue du Louvre | 75001 PARIS
Tel: +33 1 53 10 33 99
Fax: +33 1 53 10 33 98
Email: info@filmsdistribution.com
Website: www.filmsdistribution.com

Last Mistress, The
Catherine Breillat | France | 2007 | 114 mins | R21

Stylish Italian actress Asia Argento - the grungy sylph we last saw fronting the Miss Sixty advertising campaign - joins artistic forces with controversial director Catherine Breillat in this immaculate period piece, The Last Mistress, (Une Vieille Maitresse ). Breillat, whose previous films obsessed perpetually with the theme of sexuality, returns from a near-fatal stroke to complete her latest film which similarly throbs with passion and rages with sexual innuendo (and more).

Argento plays La Vellini, a scheming Spanish courtesan who attempts to thwart her lover Ryno De Marigny’s (Fu’ad Ait Attou) plans to marry the young, aristocratic ingénue Hermangarde ( Roxane Mesquida). Ryno succumbs repeatedly to La Vellini, shuttling and vacillating between the two women and their respective worlds, one steamy with raw lust and raunchy sex, another suffocated with immense wealth, prim manners and intrigue.

The scandalous discontents of this film are portrayed expertly by newcomer Fu’ad Ait Attou and rare talent Asia Argento. Provocative and bold, Breillat’s experienced direction brings Jules Barbey D’Aurevilly’s 18th century novel alive on screen for audiences.

Lou Reed’s Berlin
Julian Schnabel | USA | 2007 | 85 mins | TBA

Born in 1942, New York, Lou Reed first found fame as guitarist and principal singer-songwriter of The Velvet Underground, a short-lived but highly influential avant-garde rock band in the late Sixties. Shortly after embarking on his solo career, Reed catapulted to mainstream popularity with his hit single, Walk on the Wild Side, a title-turned-catch-phrase now more commonly used without its original accompanying tune.

Yet, being more of an artist than a celebrity, Reed released a third solo concept-album Berlin which had a radically different style with eclectic musical arrangements. It was tragically received and the harsh reviews of his work annihilated any hope of performing the album live. His efforts were only consummated some 34 years after the release of the album – Julian Schnabel, art and stage director of Lou Reed’s Berlin World Tour 2007, is the director of this documentary which chronicles the tour.

Berlin’s world-tour was also made possible by a turnaround of critics’ reviews on the album- once castigated and condemned by the mainstream, critics now deem certain songs such as Sad Song and How Do You Think it Feels? from Lou Reed’s third album as classics. Reed was always ahead of his time and Julian Schnabel has now captured him in a moment in time.

World Sales:
Fortissimo Films
Veemarkt 77-79, 1019 DA Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Tel: (31-20) 627-3215
Fax: (31-20) 626-1155
Email: courtney@fortissimo.nl

Love Comes Lately
Jan Schütte | Germany | 2007 | 86 mins | TBA

Based on the short stories Alone, The Briefcase and Old Love by the Yiddish writer and Nobel Prize-winner, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Love Comes Lately is the utterly enchanting story of a charming old Jewish writer living in a state of “permanent confusion.” Cursed with an imagination so potent it gives him nightmares, the man’s fictions manifest all the deep desires and dark fears he manages to keep under the surface of his day-to-day routine. Showing his dexterity in drawing true-to-life, memorable characters, it is director Jan Schütte’s most accomplished film to date, sustaining all the charm and innuendoes of Singer’s unparalleled tales.

An Austrian émigré, Max Kohn (Otto Tausig) is an accomplished short-story author very much of the old world – he still uses a typewriter – living in New York City. A wry and whimsical confirmed bachelor with a supposed “harem” of girlfriends, he spends most of his free time with the jealous worry-wart, Reisele (Rhea Perlman).

On a train trip to a lecture in nearby Hanover, Max edits his latest creation, imagining himself as its protagonist: a Miami Beach retiree named Simon. Simon encounters all sorts of misadventures – including two steamy romances and a murder – and when we rejoin Max, his wildest fantasies seem to have been unleashed to take shape in the real world.

At the reception after his talk, he reunites with Rosalie (Barbara Hershey), a beautiful but world-weary former student with whom he shares a great attraction. He then heads to another speaking event in Springfield, where he endures all manner of mix-ups. Having lost his prepared speech, Max decides to read a brand new story, with shades of his recent experiences, instead. He then becomes yet another thinly veiled variation of himself named Harry…

World Sales:
Fortissimo Films
14/FL. Harbour Commercial Building
122-124 Connaught Road Central Hong Kong, S.A.R.
Tel: (852) 23118081
Fax: (852) 2311 8023
Email: info@fortissimo-hk.com

Make A Wish
Cherien Dabis | Palestine | 2006 | 12 mins | TBA

Make A Wish is an intimate personal journey that follows a young Palestinian girl, Mariam, on the day of her late father’s birthday. She begs her mother for extra money to buy a birthday cake for her late father. But when Mariam arrives at the bakery, she realizes that she still doesn't have enough. Determined to get the cake, she sets out to brave the obstacles and land some cash. What begins as a simple trip to the bakery turns into a journey that depicts not only the subtle tensions of a politically-charged environment, but also illustrates the grief that can result from growing up under occupation.

This film is illustrative of the many Palestinian men who are absent from their families due to imprisonment or death. This absence and grief is portrayed through the eyes of a child to capture the collision between child-like innocence and the reality of war. While the film does not shy away from the harshness of the Palestinian experience, this bittersweet film has many moments of candid humour which shine through Mariam’s journey.

World Sales:
mec film
Contact: Irit Neidhart (Agent)
Schorlemer Str. 4, 48143 Münster
Tel: +49-251-663346
Fax: +49-251-6744596
Email: info@mecfilm.de

Man From London, The
Béla Tarr | Hungary / Germany / France | 2007 | 135 mins | PG

A creak of metal, a murder, a splash, a suitcase.

In the lush black and white world of our protagonist Maloin, the movie begins. A switchman at a seaside railway station, Maloin leads a simple life at the intersection between land and sea. He mediates comfortably between his disintegrating life and his job until this fateful night, when he is summoned by fate to witness a death.

Shades of gray seep into his life as Maloin struggles with his conscience – he comes face to face with issues of morality, sin, punishment. The line between innocence and complicity in a crime leads him to the ontological question of the meaning and worth of existence.

Based on a crime novel by Belgian writer Georges Simenon, The Man from London is Hungarian film director Béla Tarr’s latest film. The 12-minute long opening take is a masterpiece in itself – it prepares the audience as they get woven into the quagmire of events to come.

Featuring an international cast, including award-winning actress Tilda Swinton, this aesthetically brilliant noir-thriller promises to leave a hauntingly indelible impression on its viewer.

World Sales:
A-Film Distribution / A-Film Home Entertainment
Postbus 37743, 1030 BG, Amsterdam
Email: info@a-film.nl

Must Read After My Death
Morgan Dews | Spain, USA | 2007 | 73 mins | PG

Two hundred rolls of 8mm tapes, 50 hours of taped conversations and transcripts of arguments bound in a folder labeled ‘Must Read After My Death’ Director Morgan Dews stumbles upon this package in the midst of unearthing documents about his grandmother, Allis, and proceeds to weave together a film chronicling the disintegration of his grandparents’ relationship. 1961 saw cracks forming in Allis and Charley’s marriage. Under the advice of her principle therapist Dr. Lenn, Allis proceeds to document their conflicts through a series of audio recordings. Their taped conversations provide a chilling real-time narrative as the family slowly falls apart. Their four children were sent for analysis and psychiatric treatment as the rifts in their parents' relationship grows. Must Read After My Death is a fiercely personal documentary in the vein of past festival offerings Capturing the Friedmans (17th SIFF) and Tarnation (18th SIFF). Entirely constructed from archival materials, director and editor Morgan Dews proceeds to reconstruct a chillingly haunting tragedy about a woman coming to terms with the restrictions her environment has imposed on her. Production Company: Morgan Dews 300 W. 10th St., 4B New York, NY, 10014 Tel: +1 646 251 3257 Email: morgandews@gmail.com

My Winnipeg
Guy Maddin | Canada | 2007 | 80 mins | TBA

The film opens with a young Guy Maddin on a train leaving his beloved hometown of Winnipeg. “Sleepy, snowy Winnipeg” holds a mystical thrall over him that he needs to come to terms with before he can disentangle himself. And so begins this love poem and goodbye letter to this wintry town.

A self-described “docu-fantasia”, this movie unfurls like a fevered dream, underscored with the director’s hypnotic narration and chants of “Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Winnipeg”.

The first segment is a meditation on Winnipeg’s sleepiness—it boasts the most sleepwalkers per capita of any major international city. The film then moves into its historical monuments and key historical events, such as a racetrack tragedy that sent many horses to an icy death. In the final segment, Guy Maddin tells his own Winnipeg stories, key events from his childhood that shaped his vision of Winnipeg.

The film is eminently watchable, funny, and manages to make even Winnipeg charming.

World Sales:
Maximum Films International
9 Price Street, Toronto, M4W 1Z1
Tel: (416) 967-7071
Fax: (416) 960-8656
Email: sonia@maximumfilms.ca

Obscene
Neil Ortenberg, Daniel O’ Connor | USA | 2007 | 90 mins | TBA

Obscene is an insider’s look on the story of Barney Rosset, publisher of Grove press and Evergreen Review, who could be regarded as one of the greatest American publishers of the 20th Century, and one of the great unsung heroes of free expression, for his heroic and relentless efforts to challenge obscenity laws imposed on the arts by the state.

Under his management, Grove Press and Evergreen Review fought numerous monumental legal battles, pushing back the boundaries of censorship and exposed Americans to new waves of freedom of expression.

Barney Rosset was the man who fought hard to publish classic titles such as Lady Chatterley's Lover, Tropic of Cancer, Naked Lunch and The Autobiography of Malcolm X. We follow the story of Rosset, from his life-defining experience in the army, his ups and downs as a publisher and film distributor, his role as protector and curator of Victorian Literary Erotica, and his subsequent loss of Grove Press to a take-over. At the end of the film, we see the Rosset of the present, a relatively forgotten hero in his mid-80s.

This documentary features prominent authors such as Jim Carroll, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gore Vidal, Allen Ginsberg and Erica Jong.

World sales:
Arthouse Films
269 S. Beverly Drive #383, Beverly Hills, CA 90212

Operation Filmmaker
Nina Davenport | USA | 2007 | 95 mins | TBA

In this documentary, Nina Davenport challenges the romanticism of charity, as she follows a young Iraqi filmmaker, after he is invited to work with a Hollywood film director. What began with the intention of capturing an inspiring story of the dreams of a disadvantaged youth coming to life, soon turns into a tale of disillusionment and cultural divisiveness.

Soon after the fall of Baghdad in 2003, a young and charismatic film student, Muthana, stands in the rubble of the city's film school and explains to an American television audience that his dream of becoming a filmmaker has been destroyed - first by Saddam Hussein, then by American bombs. This brief, fortuitous appearance on MTV changes Muthana's life forever. Watching in the United States, actor/director Liev Schreiber decides to extend to the unknown Iraqi the opportunity of a lifetime - to come to Prague to work on an American movie, Everything is Illuminated. On set, frustrated expectations complicate the relationship between Muthana and his American benefactors in what becomes a cross-cultural endeavor gone awry. Filmmaker Nina Davenport becomes increasingly entangled in the young Iraqi's life as his visa is about to expire and the threat of returning to Baghdad looms. Operation Filmmaker, which is revealing on several levels, addresses the power dynamics between the American filmmaker and her Iraqi subject, unfolding as an engaging parable about the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Since its recent release, the film has already picked up a Special Jury Prize from the Chicago International Film Festival and the KNF Award from the Rotterdam International Film Festival.

World Sales:
Films Transit
252 Gouin Boulevard East, Montreal QC H3L 1A8 Canada.
Tel: (514) 844-3358
Fax: (514) 862-0054
Email: janrofekamp@filmstransit.com

Red Road
Andrea Arnold | UK/Denmark | 2006 | 113 mins | TBA

Set in Glasgow, Red Road is a startling drama of obsession and revenge. Jackie, an operator of one of the city’s intricate web of CCTV, fills her days by watching the daily activities of the city inhabitants.

Emotionally disconnected with life, her existence is jolted when a face from the past appears on her screen, a face she thought she would never see again, and a face she is compelled to confront.

Soon after, she finds her life spiraling uncontrollably into a tangle of illicit Orwellian-like surveillance that brings her finally to the iconic Red Road, the drab and deserted cluster of blocks in the city scheduled for demolition.

With its disquieting images infused with an overwhelming sense of paranoia, the film could have simply been a copy of Rear Window. But in the hands of this promising UK filmmaker, something far more complex and original emerges.

Red Road is the first of three films of The Advance Party, a Danish project inspired by Lars von Trier, who challenged three directors to create films with the same group of characters.

It won the Prix Du Jury in Cannes in 2006, as well as four awards for Best Director, Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Actress in the BAFTA Scotland Awards in 2006, among its many other awards. Red Road is directed by Andrea Arnold (Oscar Winner for Best Short film in 2004), regarded as one of the most promising directors in the UK today.

World sales:
Trust Film Sales
Filmbyen 12
DK-2650 Hvidovre, Denmark
Tel: +45 3686 8776
Fax: +45 3677 4448
Email: post@trust-film.dk
Website: www.trust-film.dk

Remember My Name
Bowen Duffy, Kasimir Burgess, Nick Moore | Australia | 2007 | 12 mins | TBA

A hit at the Melbourne International Film Festival 2007, this short film looks at a group of ordinary people who are disaffected by the way things are, and who come together to make their own form of social protest, putting themselves in the line of change.

Sales & Distribution:
Bowen Duffy

Romulus, My Father
Richard Roxburgh | Australia | 2007 | 103 mins | TBA

Romulus, My Father is based on Raimond Gaita’s critically-acclaimed memoir. Romulus (Eric Bana) and his wife, Christina (Franka Potente) have fled Yugoslavia after World War II to start a new life in Australia and bring up their son, Raimond (Kodi Smit-McPhee).

The story tells of Raimond growing up with his father amidst the beautiful natural landscape of rural Australia, and how Romulus teaches Raimond the meaning of a compassionate, decent and moral life. At the same time, the family struggles with the depression of Christina, and her increasing neglect of the family. Romulus, My Father is a celebration of the unbreakable bond between father and son, and the depth of love for family, against a background of coping as new immigrants in a foreign land.

Sales & Distribution:
Arclight Films International
9229 Sunset Blvd, Suite 705,
Los Angeles, CA 90069
Website: www.arclightfilms.com

Runnin' Down A Dream: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Peter Bogdanovich | USA | 2007 | 253 mins | TBA

Runnin’ Down A Dream: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is an epic documentary that details the developments of the legendary rock band in their 30 glorious years of existence. Tom Petty, who narrates this film, reveals his wicked wit as he shares countless anecdotes about his career, his inspiration and his musician friends. Veteran director Peter Bogdanovich (of The Last Picture Show and St Jack fame), applies his deft storytelling skills and makes watching this four-hour film a seamless and tremendously entertaining experience.

Since their first album, the Heartbreakers has sold more than 50 million records and they remain one of the biggest touring acts in the music business. Made to mark the band’s 30th anniversary, this documentary is filled with archival footage of past gigs, live concert clips, music videos and interviews with star musicians such as George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Stevie Nicks and Eddie Vedder, among many others.

Runnin' Down A Dream shows not only the Heartbreakers' inspiring journey to the top, but also the story of what they did when they got to the peak - as musicians, as a band and as individuals. Feisty and irrepressible, Runnin' Down A Dream is a film that will place Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on their pedestal as one of the greatest Rock 'n' Roll bands of our time.

World sales:
Warner Bros. Records Inc.,
3300 Warner Blvd., Burbank, CA. 91505
Tel: 818-846-9090

Seventh Heaven
Saad Hendawy | Egypt | 2007 | 99 mins | NC16

Set in Cairo, Seventh Heaven is a spiritual and visually-impressive experience about Hanan, a woman with a hidden past who gets into a relationship with Bakr, a Sufi dancer (one of the most famous Whirling Dervishes) with his own history. They discover new horizons and new meanings in their lives through this romantic relationship. And there is also Bakr's son Saad, a troubled boy trying to do what he always wanted in life. Both father and son are on the threshold of discovering what they have always denied.

World Sales:
Al Nasr Films – Mohamed Hassan Rmazy
33, Orabi Street – Al Tawfikia,
Down Town – Cairo – Egypt

Shadows
Milcho Manchevski | Macedonia / Germany / Italy / Bulgaria / Spain | 2007 | 129 mins | TBA

“Sometimes the dead speak louder than the living”. This rings true for the protagonist, young doctor Lazare Perkov (Borce Nacev), after he survives a near-fatal car accident one rainy night. Following his miraculous escape, he encounters a series of strange people: a man (Salaetin Bilal) with blood seeping from his shoes who is carrying a wailing baby, an old crone speaking a forgotten dialect (Ratka Radmanovic) and a beautiful young woman with a sad secret (Vesna Stanojevska). These tormented souls carry a mysterious message that Lazare must find the meaning to: "Return what’s not yours. Have respect." That Lazare can see dead people is the catalyst for his awakening from someone who is always trying to live up to the expectations of others to an active protagonist who relishes his feeling of being alive.

This is the long-awaited third feature by director Milcho Manchevski, whose Before the Rain won over 30 awards, including the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1994. Aided by the mesmerizing cinematography of Fabio Cianchetti, who has worked with Bernardo Bertolucci and Roberto Benigni, Shadows takes us on a hypnotic journey into the heart of our fundamental needs and emotions, with no easy solutions.

Shadows represents Macedonia as its official submission to the Best Foreign Language Film Category of the 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008).

International Sales:
Bavaria Film International,
Contact: Thorsten Schaumann
(Head of Bavaria Film International ,Acquisition/Sales),
Tel: +49 89 6499 2686
Fax: +49 89 6499 3720
Email: thorsten.schaumann@bavaria-film.de

Shelter
Marco S. Puccioni | Italy | 2007 | 98 mins | TBA

The film "Shelter" by Marco S. Puccioni is a film that exhibits the personal and interpersonal relationship between two women (who happen to be lovers) and the involvement of an illegal immigrant who enters both of their lives only to demonstrate and unfold by chance all the problems between the two protagonists.

The relationship between the two women seems to deteriorate at the beginning of the film. Anna, discovers Anis and chooses not to tell her lover, Mara. Anna assumes all the responsibility or power in her decision not to tell Mara. This perfectly foreshadows the lost of trust and hope between Anna and Mara..

However, the young boy, Anis is used as a pawn, between the two women to use at their disposal in order to display power. Is this a subconscious statement made by Mr. Puccioni concerning the West's problems with the South?

But we obviously see the class differences from Anna to Mara and from Mara to Anis. At some point, all three people need each other in order to exist and change, but at the expense of whom?

VHS Kahloucha
Nejib Belkadhi | Tunisia | 2006 | 80 mins | PG

Tunisia is not a country renowned for its film industry. However, this has not stopped flamboyant, charismatic house painter, Moncef Kahloucha, from making no-budget adventure films in his spare time. He buys his props in the local market, and enlists friends or neighbours as actors, paying them, when he does, in alcohol. With his great love for cinema, 1970s genre cinema in particular, Kahloucha has made a battery of homage pieces on his VHS Panasonic 3500 and claims such hits as I Had No Money and Now I'm Loaded and Misery to Get Rid of the Booze. This film captures him producing his latest feature, Tarzan of the Arabs.

Director Belkadhi’s endearing portrayal of this impassioned filmmaker captures the light that Kahloucha brings into the mundane lives of his cast and crew, while revealing Kahloucha’s secret love for his favourite lead actress, a sultry senior citizen. A fun and inspirational film for anyone interested in filmmaking.

Distribution sales:
Propaganda Production
1, Rue Ali Kallel, 2070 La Marsa, Tunisia
Tel: +216 71 744 815
Fax: +216 71 982 088
Email : propaganda@gnet.tn

Words from the City
Natasha Gadd, Rhys Graham | Australia | 2007 | 90 mins | TBA

Words from the City is a feature documentary exploring Australian hip hop through intimate observations of some of the nation’s most influential MCs. Filmmakers Gadd and Graham spent over a year filming these artists on stage, in the studio and on their home turf. These include WA’s Downsyde and Layla, Hilltop Hoods, Maya Jupiter, Wire MC, MC Trey and more.

Focusing on the unique artistry of the hip hop form, the film explores the underlying drivers of the art – from social and political rage to cultural storytelling, the diverse environments which shape these artists, and their desire to make their stories heard in a prolific and skilful art. Words from the City is a record of how the hip hop genre has evolved and exploded onto the Australian musical landscape.

Distributor:
Film Camp, Madman Entertainment
Film Camp
179 Johnston Street, Fitzroy, VIC 3065 Australia
Tel: +61 3 9419 0140

Madman Entertainment
1-35 Wellington Street, Collingwood, VIC 3066, Australia
P.O.Box 1480
Tel: +61 3 9418 7388

You, the Living
Roy Andersson | Sweden | 2007 | 92 mins | TBA

From the director of the highly-acclaimed Songs from the Second Floor, Roy Andersson’s latest film You, the Living is a memorable ode to music which once again showcases the director’s fondness to fill the screen with both poignancy and wit. Through fantasy sequences that showcase the dreams of the various characters, Andersson has concocted a visual feast of a film, which he describes as a “tragic-comedy” that examines the vulnerability of human beings.

Composed of more than 50 single shot scenes and painted in Andersson’s usual green and greys, it plays with music and songs sprinkled throughout the movie as it examines the state of the human condition in Andersson’s absurdist style.

This film was selected as Sweden’s entry for the Best Foreign Film category at this year’s Oscars and was showcased as part of the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard programme.

Production Company:
Posthus Teatret
Rådhusstræde 1, DK-1466 København K
Tel: +45 3311 6611
Fax: +45 3313 3112
Email: posthus@mail.tele.dk

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