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“Look at that stupid house. Stupid tree. Stupid rock. Stupid concrete. Stupid people.” The voiceover continues like that in a low mumble as a 13-year-old black teen wheels his pink bike through the economically depressed Arkansas town that he calls home. “Everything stupid.”

A little movie about a little man with a huge hole in his heart, “Dayveon” gives its young title character (Devin Blackmon) plenty of reason to be frustrated with the world. His older brother, memorialized by the airbrushed portrait that hangs on Dayveon’s bedroom wall, was shot and killed in 2014, presumably as a result of some business involving the local sect of Bloods who hang out down the street. His name was Trevor, and a loaded handgun is the only thing he left behind. When he’s alone in the house, Dayveon dives into his shoebox of secret stuff and holds the weapon in his hands,...

Before she was a three-time Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize winner, as well as an Oscar winner, Andrea Arnold was captivated with depicting reckless behavior and the subsequent consequences, as proven by her debut short film, “Milk.” With a shoestring cast and a ten-minute runtime, “Milk” cuts straight to the core without wasting a breath.

Read More: Review: ‘American Honey’ Proves Andrea Arnold is One of the Best Working Filmmakers and Finds a Breakout Star in Sasha Lane

Following a miscarriage, Hetty (Lynda Steadman) decides not to attend the funeral for her child, despite her husband’s (Stephen McGann) pleading. After wandering around town, she meets Martin (Lee Oakes), and together they embark on an impulsive, drunk joyride in his car. Unconventional and uncompromising, Arnold’s debut short packs the emotional wallop critics audiences have come to admire in her work.

“Milk” was followed by two more short films, “Dog” and “Wasp,...

As we mounted the stairs of the Red Carpet for the last time, the Closing Night Awards for the Cannes International Film Festival were announced by the Jury President, George Miller, Director of “Mad Max: Fury Road”. The eight additional members, four women and four men -- Arnaud Desplechin, Kirsten Dunst, Valeria Golino, Mads Mikkelsen, László Nemes , Vanessa Paradis, Katayoon Shahabi and Donald Sutherland presented the awards. Surprise of the evening was that the German Competition film, Maren Ade’s “Toni Erdmann”, clearly an audience favorite and snatched up immediately for the U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics, received no award at all. However, it was a great evening for IFC/ Sundance Selects who has the U.S. rights to three winners, "I, Daniel Blake", "Graduation" and "Personal Shopper".

The Palme d’Or went to Ken Loach for “I, Daniel Blake”, the sad drama of a disabled worker and of a young single mother of two who hold each other up as they try to navigate the social service morass which denies them their rightful ability to pursue happiness. The 79-year-old British director Ken Loach also won in 2006 for "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" and has had over 18 films selected for Cannes. This Sundance Selects acquisition brought audiences to wrenching tears.

“The festival is very important for the future of cinema,” said Loach. “When there is despair, the people from the far right take advantage. We must say that another world is possible and necessary.”

Best Director Award was split between Romanian Cristian Mungiu ("Graduation" or “Bacalaureat”) and Olivier Assayas (“Personal Shopper”). Mungiu’s "4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days" won the Palme d'Or in 2007. His actresses had shared the Actress prize for "Beyond the Hills." Like the Romanian 2013 Berlinale winner, “Child’s Pose” and Iranian Asghar Farhadi’s 2012 Academy Award winner, “A Separation”, the film contains object lessons about the moral choices made by humans whose actions result in greater damage than originally foreseen, especially when taking place in an already corrupted society. In this story a father tries to protect his daughter and give her the greatest opportunities for making her life better than that of her parents.

Co-winner Olivier Assayas, received his first Cannes award for "Personal Shopper" (IFC Films). This is his second English-language film starring Kristen Stewart (Cesar winner for "Clouds of Sils Maria"). As she buys fashionable attire for a rich client and tries to communicate with her twin brother, who has recently died. It was a great Cannes for Stewart, who was well-received in Woody Allen's "Cafe Society" (Amazon has U.S.) as well.

Best Screenplay went to “The Salesman” by Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi (Amazon and Cohen Media Group share U.S. rights). His star, Shahab Hosseini won Best Actor his role as an actor in the midst of moving apartments and starring in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" when his wife (Taraneh Alidoosti) is assaulted in the shower of their new domicile by a man who assumes that she is the former tenant, a prostitute. Winning the Jury Prize for the third time (!) for coming of age road movie “American Honey” (A24 has U.S.) starring Shia Labeouf and unknown Sasha Lane. British director Andrea Arnold wanted to dance as she accepted the award. Xavier Dolan, who won the 2014 Jury Prize of “Mommy” won the Grand Prix for his very theatrical "It's Only the End of the World". He cried to receive the award for his family drama starring some of the greatest French actors living today, Nathalie Baye, Vincent Cassel, Marion Cotillard, Léa Seydoux, Gaspard Ulliel. The film has no U.S. distributor yet. To my mind, the acting far outstripped the story. I am just glad the other greatest French actor, Isabelle Huppert, was not in Dolan’s film. She had her hands full in Paul Verhoeven’s “Elle” the Competition film about another woman attacked in her home by an unknown assailant. Best Actress went to Jaclyn Jose for “Ma' Rosa” by Philippine director Brillante Mendoza.

The Caméra d'Or ("Golden Camera") for the best first feature film presented in one of the Cannes' selections (Official Selection, Directors' Fortnight or International Critics' Week) went to “Divines” directed by Houda Benyamina. Houda received her award with unconcealed joy and enthusiasm. The 35 year old Franco-Moroccan film director whose long and strong speech called on women to be more present in the world of cinema said, “I was always saying that I do not care about Cannes …but today, well I’m happy to be here. Cannes belongs to us too …For things to change, you have to put a lot more women in decision-making positions…I am a committed filmmaker, making films is a way to turn my [feminist] anger into perspective…Women! Women!” she added as she broke into the Arabic women’s Ululation. Houda’s film follows an impoverished young girl who drops out of school and escapes her family in search of her own emancipation and personal freedom.

Outside of the Official Awards the winner of the Queer Palm (Feature) was "Les Vies de Thérèse" by Sébastien Lifshitz and Queer Palm (Short): "Gabber Lover" Anna Cazenave-Cambet. And finally, the Palme Dog went to Nellie for “Paterson”by Jim Jarmusch.

In CompetitionPalme d'Or – I, Daniel Blake, directed by Ken Loach. Grand Prix – It's Only the End of the World, directed by Xavier Dolan.Jury Prize – American Honey, directed by Andrea Arnold. Best Director – Olivier Assayas for Personal Shopper and Cristian Mungiu for Graduation. Best Actor – Shahab Hosseini for The Salesman.Best Actress – Jaclyn Jose for Ma' Rosa.Best Screenplay – Asghar Farhadi for The Salesman.Un Certain RegardPrix Un Certain Regard – The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki, directed by Juho KuosmanenJury Prize – Harmonium, directed by Köji Fukada. Best Director – Captain Fantastic, directed by Matt Ross. Best Screenplay – Delphine Coulin and Muriel Coulin for The Stopover. Special Prize – The Red Turtle, directed by Michael Dudok de WitCamera d'OrCamera d'Or – Divines, directed by Houda Benyamina.Critics' WeekCritics' Week Grand Prize – Mimosas, directed by Oliver Laxe. FIPRESCICompetition Fipresci Prize – Toni Erdmann, directed by Maren AdeUn Certain Regard Fipresci Prize – Caini, directed...

At the Tribeca Talks series at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival, filmmaker Ira Sachs ("Love is Strange") interviewed U.K. writer and director Andrea Arnold about writing, filmmaking, and surrendering.

In 2005 Arnold’s short film, Wasp, earned an Academy Award. She also received two BAFTA awards and two jury prizes at Cannes, as well as a multitude of festival accolades for her films, "Milk," "Dog," "Red Road," "Fish Tank" and "Wuthering Heights." On television she has directed two episodes of "Transparent." Arnold's latest film, "American Honey" starring Shia Labeouf and Riley Keough (recently acquired by A24) about a crew of teens who sell magazines across the Midwest is her first to be filmed in the U.S. "American Honey" is one of just three films from female directors in the 2016 Cannes Film Festival’s main competition and one of two from the U.K.

On Filmmaking

In Andrea Arnold’s films many of the actors are non-actors and they employ street casting.

Sachs: The shooting process has surprises, dangers, and risks.

Arnold: I love that. It brings life. I don’t like knowing everything that’s going to happen on the shoot.

Sachs: What frightens you in filmmaking?

Arnold: I like the obstacles. In the last one (‘American Honey’), I think I pushed it. It was very tough, there were days I had scenes with loads of non-actors, and there were a few days I really pushed it. What are you frightened of?

Sachs: I’m burdened by everything.

Arnold: The money?

Sachs: Yes, the money. It’s fear and fearlessness. You navigate between the two; I don’t panic in it.

Arnold: I remember before starting the film, I was taking a lot of risks that definitely entered my head. I try not to let the money stop me, you worry too much then you don’t push it. I do feel responsible for the money.

Sachs: Do you think your filmmaking has changed?

Arnold: I feel like the last film I made was the most me I’ve ever been. I trusted myself totally, the most I’ve ever done. In that way it has changed.

About Screenwriting

Sachs: How do your ideas for film begins?

Arnold: Usually what starts driving me is an image I have that won’t go away. For ‘Fish Tank’ I had an image of a girl pissing on the floor in someone’s house, it wasn’t her house. And I thought ‘What is this girl doing?’ and then I start thinking about what that means and who she is, where she comes from, why she’s doing that, and so I start a mind map.

Surrendering

Arnold: Sometimes when you’re filmmaking things don't always go the way you were expecting. You know, I have such a beautiful vision in my head in my head before the shoot, and then we get there and of course it's different.

On Improvising

Sachs: With your screenplays, does the dialogue or the action ever change when you're shooting? Is there any improvisation? How concerned are you with preserving what you've written?

Arnold: I always have this romantic idea about improvising but then we go on set and there's no time to get the same coverage. I think it's sometimes valuable when you have scenes that might not be working. And this last film (‘American Honey’) we did more than normal. I let them put in some of their own words but it's definitely my story but they did do it in their own kind of way.

Sachs: I never liked improvisation. I want it restrained.

Using Film

Arnold: We did start with film, but it was way too difficult; we had to keep changing magazines. I like film a lot. Somebody said the other day, which I thought was a very good way of describing it; “When you see a shot of a man in an empty room, on video, you think someone has left the room, and when you see it on film, you think someone is about to come in.” There’s nothing like film.

On Rehearsing

Sachs: Do you give actors the whole script? Rehearse?

Arnold: I haven't rehearsed in a long time. I don’t like to rehearse. In ‘Fish Tank’ I gave them pages once a week and they learned it bit by bit. On this last one, ‘American Honey’ I gave them pages every day -- they didn’t know what was coming!

Final Words

Sachs: Advice for first-time directors?

Arnold: Be yourself. There's only one of you. Be unique, trust that.

Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting at Purchase College Suny, and presents international seminars on screenwriting and film. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com, http://su-city-pictures.com/wpblog...

Sightseers

Directed by Ben Wheatley

Written by Steve Oram, Alice Lowe & Ben Wheatley (with additional material from Amy Jump)

2012, UK

Either Ben Wheatley is a boiling pot of pent-up rage, or he is the complete opposite and thus finds perverse pleasure in humouring the rage fantasies and violent tendencies of the frustrated working-class white English male. Even last year’s grit-fest, Kill List, is not entirely void of something approximating humour, even at its bleakest, blackest moments. But with this his third narrative feature, humour takes centre stage and everything springs forth from and brings forth comedy: the gory violence, the psychotic romance, the meat-and-potatoes relationship drama, the deranged road trip through northern England with a caravan in tow.

Thirty-something Tina (Alice Lowe) lives with her possessive, borderline personality mother in a house filled with countless photographs and sketches of their beloved deceased terrier Poppy, whose death by knitting needle...

Vol. I Issue 10 February 2013

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As this last weekend approached I was faced with marking my Academy Award ballot. This process is always really difficult. How does one sort out the “best” film or accomplishment of five or nine in the case of the Best Picture? For me it has been over 30 years of screenings. Thousand of films. Some really great films and many not so great. I also try to think what it means to be one of the nominees. What was the off-screen story but always more importantly what their contribution was to the work and how the film compares to others. What’s great about short films is that they can be made for almost nothing by a few filmmakers without a large budget, crew or cast.

The Academy has three nomination categories for films less than 41 minutes in length: short fiction, documentary and animation. Once nominated, there are public screenings and panels to celebrate the nominated films at the Academy in Beverly Hills. A group photograph of all the nominees is taken with a large Oscar in the lobby of the Academy headquarters. It is really a wonderful experience.

It wasn’t always like that. There were no special celebrations for the short or documentary films until the l980s. While the Foreign Language films had their seminar, nothing was done for these films. We tried to remedy that in the 1980s and started the Direct Cinema receptions and screenings with UCLA, USC and, a few years later, the Ida sponsored “Docuday” and the Academy started doing an annual reception for the shorts and documentary filmmakers. Today the Academy’s evening receptions for the short films, animated features (a relatively new Oscar category) and the documentaries are annual sell-out events. The filmmakers and their works are celebrated and it has become a highlight of the Oscar week for the filmmakers and those associated with the films.

When I first became a member of the Academy the short films and animation branch was headed by a number of extraordinary talents: T Hee, Saul Bass and June Forey. These three remarkable artists represented classic Disney animation (T. Hee), fiction and narrative short films (Saul Bass), and the television and theatrical films (June Forey, who voiced hundreds of characters.)

Saul Bass articulated the branch’s membership policy, “We want them to be part of our branch.” This liberal interpretation allowed documentary filmmakers like Ken Burns as well as voice artists and creatives like Stan Friedberg (and June Forey) to be part of a group that included IMAX filmmakers as well as classic character animation directors, colorists, layout artists, producers and other key short film and animation filmmakers. The animation filmmakers represent both the studio animators and the independent animators who work globally doing personal work as well as studio work. Other governors from 1979 to the present have included Hal Elias, who served on the Academy board for 37 years and was a short film publicist for MGM among other things; Bill Littlejohn, who worked on over 90 films as an animator ranging from Charley Brown, Peanuts Christmas Specials to working with the Hubleys’; Bill Scott, who acted and wrote over a hundred animated films, and Carl Bell, who worked on over 35 films at Disney in its animation department.

Unlike most of the other branches, the Short Films branch screens all of the submitted films in 16mm and 35mm and now in Digital Cinema, in an effort to find and nominate the best short films produced in the world. The branch rules allowed films to qualify in an effort to encourage more international entries in the 1990s by taking a first prize at key festivals in addition to the method that all Academy films can use to qualify, a theatrical week long (now three day for shorts) run in a theater in Los Angeles County. Branch screenings were expanded to New York to permit more members to participate in the nomination process in the 1990s. The final short listed screenings are in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Over one-third of the branch participates in the voting. The best change took place this year, sending DVD screeners to all Academy members of the short live action and animated nominated films. While this still won’t force members to watch them, members can’t claim they can’t see them. This is not only great for the branch but great for the nominated filmmakers. Who would not want to screen their short film for Academy members?

The process of the branch for selecting Nominees has remained unchanged for years—members screen the films in a theater rather than on DVDs, which is how the Documentary branch is dealing with the flood of feature docs and their unwillingness to trust committees. Nothing beats seeing films projected on a large screen with perfect sound and that is now lost. In a two step process, a committee (self selected from the branch membership) screens the films and the 15 films with the highest scores are short listed. The short listed films are then screened again and members vote.

The current Short Film Branch governors are Jon Bloom (pictured with the 2007 nominees), a 1983 fiction short nominee, filmmaker, editor and producer who chairs the branch, animator and Disney Creative Head and multi-Oscar winner, John Lasseter, and William "Bill" Kroyer,an award-winning director of animation and computer graphics commercials, short films, movie titles and theatrical films and faculty member Chapman College.

One of the challenges for the branch is how to grow live action producing members. With the addition of feature animation to the awards and the large number of feature animation films being released, the branch would like to have the most qualified animators to become members. The number of animators grows at a far faster rate than that of the live action filmmakers since only a few live action filmmakers can qualify for membership. The commercial success of animated features, the long production schedules and the large number of animators who work in qualifying positions allows for six plus individuals per picture to be eligible for membership. With five nominees a year, the number of individuals who can play a key role in two or three features becoming eligible for membership can easily approach 30 plus individuals annually. Add in the short animation nominees and competition for the limited new slots allocated to the branch can be brutal. The talent pool of animators is both astonishingly strong and suggests that Hollywood can easily double production from the 15 or so films made annually to 25 or 30 without having to compromise on talent.

Many of the filmmakers in the branch who make their Oscar nominated or winning live action short have made or are interested in making feature length works. A number of recent nominees or winners have made that transition. The following list looks at all of the live action nominees from 2001 to 2011, using the Internet Movie Database I looked up each nominee and listed what they reported they were doing professionally. Obviously, this is not intended to show everything. In each case, I listed credits or summarized credits shown in the IMDb listing.

Some observations about 11 years of Live Action Short Film Academy Award Nominees:

There were 86 nominations (out of a possible 110) This is because in some years only three films were nominated and in some cases only one filmmaker from a film was eligible for a nomination. Non-us based filmmakers dominate this category. Despite the huge number of short films being made annually in the Us, a majority of the nominated films come from filmmakers based abroad. In part this is due to the government subsidies available, but it is also due to the strong training programs, commercial support for the short films and a rich tradition of theatrical shorts. This year (2012) four of the five films in the live action category are from Us filmmakers. This is an unusual year. Few filmmakers have more than one nomination, only a handful of the nominees have made multiple Academy worthy short films. As one might expect, many of the filmmakers have continued their film work in television, some in features. The European Oscar winners (vs nominees) have done better at snagging features after a win than have their American counterparts. Again, this is likely a function of government support for entry features. Perhaps one of the short films seem to have been turned into a feature (or television) film. Some of the short films are intended to be sizzle reels for features, but it is not clear why so few of the nominated short films have been turned into features. A number of the Oscar winners have not continued working in film. No record of future productions are shown on IMDb. It would be interesting to see what they are doing now. Two of the Oscar winners have written critically award winning screenplays, one received two Academy Award nominations for his screenwriting. None of these nominees have gone on to win Oscars in directing or producing for feature films.

The data is from the Academy and the IMDb databases.

Apologies in advance, if credits were missed or other factual errors were made. In a week we’ll be able to add this year's winner.

2001 (74th)

Short Film (Live Action) (* won Academy Award)

*the accountant -- Ray McKinnon: Two Features: Randy and the Mob 2007 and Crystal 2004 Lisa Blount: Produced these features. Copy Shop -- Virgil Widrich Gregor's Greatest Invention -- Johannes Kiefer A Man Thing (Meska Sprawa) -- Slawomir Fabicki, Two Features: Loving 2012, Retrieval 2006 (Also wrote) Bogumil Godfrejow Has shot multiple features Speed for Thespians -- Kalman Apple, Shameela Bakhsh

2002 (75th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Fait D'Hiver -- Dirk Beliën, Anja Daelemans produced Comrade Kim Goes North I'll Wait for the Next One... (J'Attendrai Le Suivant...) -- Philippe Orreindy, Thomas Gaudin Inja (Dog) -- Steven Pasvolsky Feature, Deck Dogz Joe Weatherstone, produced episodic television. Johnny Flynton -- Lexi Alexander, directed 3 features: Lifted, Punisher: War Zone and Green Street Hooligans Alexander Buono as a Dp has shot series and features *This Charming Manon (Der Er En Yndig Mand) -- Martin Strange-Hansen, Mie Andreasen produced both features, series and documentaries.

2003 (76th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Die Rote Jacke (The Red Jacket) -- Florian Baxmeyer Multiple television films and series Most (The Bridge) -- Bobby Garabedian, William Zabka Mr. Zabka has appeared as an actor in numerous films and television shows Squash -- Lionel Bailliu Features: Fair Play and Denis (in post) (A) Torzija [(A) Torsion] -- Stefan Arsenijevic Directed: Lost and Found, Love and Other Crimes, and Do Not Forget Me Istanbul *Two Soldiers -- Aaron Schneider,Asc (Cinematographer numerous credits) and feature, Kiss the Girls, Andrew J. Sacks Series The Closer (98 episodes) and Major Crimes.

2004 (77th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Everything in This Country Must -- Gary McKendry Directed Killer Elite, Joseph and the Girl Little Terrorist -- Ashvin Kumar Produced and Directed features (2) and documentaries (2) 7:35 in the Morning (7:35 de la Mañana) -- Nacho Vigalondo Directed and written multiple films, series, shorts Two Cars, One Night -- Taika Waititi, Acted and directed and written multi television and films Ainsley Gardiner Nz based producer of multiple shorts, television and feature films *Wasp -- Andrea Arnold Actor, director and writer of numbers films, television programs

2005 (78th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Ausreisser (The Runaway) -- Ulrike Grote Ms. Grote has acted in over 42 programs, features, television series and films Cashback -- Sean Ellis, Director/Writer Metro Manila, The Broken Lene Bausager Producer, The Broken, Ginger and Rosa The Last Farm -- Rúnar Rúnarsson, Director/Writer Volcano, Thor S. Sigurjónsson Produced multiple features Our Time Is Up -- Rob Pearlstein, Director/Writer multiple television and a feature Pia Clemente Producer, documentaries *Six Shooter -- Martin McDonagh Writer/Director Seven Psychopaths, In Bruges

2006 (79th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea) -- Javier Fesser, no other credits shown Luis Manso Produced multiple features Éramos Pocos (One Too Many) -- Borja Cobeaga Writer, multi films and television series Helmer & Son -- Søren Pilmark no other credits, Kim Magnusso Producer over 100 film, television films (4 Best Short Film Academy Award nominations) Won for Ernst & Lyset The Saviour -- Peter Templeman, no other credits Stuart Parkyn, Producer, multi-short film credits *West Bank Story -- Ari Sandel Director, one short, one documentary

2007 (80th)

Short Film (Live Action)

At Night -- Christian E. Christiansen, Directed, Features and television series Louise Vesth Producer, multi features Il Supplente (The Substitute) -- Andrea Jublin

*Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets) -- Philippe Pollet-Villard Actor and director short films, a television film

Tanghi Argentini -- Guido Thys, Director, Multiple television series Anja Daelemans, nominated for 2 Short Film nominations (Gridlock, 2002) Producer/Pm various The Tonto Woman -- Daniel Barber, Directed The Keeping Room, Harry Brown Matthew Brown Produced 2 shorts

2008 (81st)

Short Film (Live Action)

Auf der Strecke (On the Line) -- Reto Caffi Manon on the Asphalt -- Elizabeth Marre, Director, Television series Olivier Pont Director, Television series New Boy -- Steph Green, Director Run and Jump Tamara Anghie Producer Run and Jump The Pig -- Tivi Magnusson, Producer Over 64 titles many short films, Dorte Høgh Writer multiple series, (Directed The Pig) *Spielzeugland (Toyland) -- Jochen Alexander Freydank Producer of multiple television series

2009 (82nd)

Short Film (Live Action)

The Door -- Juanita Wilson, Director As If I Am Not There James Flynn Multiple Producer credits for over 50 titles, television and theatrical Instead of Abracadabra -- Patrik Eklund, Director, Television film and feature Mathias Fjellström Kavi -- Gregg Helvey Miracle Fish -- Luke Doolan, Multiple credits as editor Drew Bailey Multiple credits as Assistant Director *The New Tenants -- Joachim Back, no other credits shown as a director, Tivi Magnusson This is Mr. Magnusson’s first Academy Award and second nomination. See 2008.

2010 (83rd)

Short Film (Live Action)

The Confession -- Tanel Toom The Crush -- Michael Creagh *God of Love -- Luke Matheny Feature Love Sick and multiple Television series episode Na Wewe -- Ivan Goldschmidt Wish 143 -- Ian Barnes, Multiple directing credits Television Samantha Waite Credits as production coordinator on multiple titles

2011 (84th)

Short Film (Live Action)

Pentecost -- Peter McDonald, Credits as actor Eimear O'Kane Credits as Producer on The Shadows and on television programs. Raju -- Max Zähle, Director, Television series Stefan Gieren Producer-Writer credit on feature film, Kunduz: The Incident at Hadji Ghafur *The Shore -- Terry George, Writer Two Oscar nominations for screenplays In the Name of the Father and Hotel Riwanda Producer and director on films and television series Oorlagh George Numerous credits as Assistant on features, documentaries and television shows Time Freak -- Andrew Bowler Writer and actor in a short film Gigi Causey Production manager, producer shorts, series and films

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Credits: Editing by Jessica Just for SydneysBuzz

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Mitchell Block specializes in conceiving, producing, marketing & distributing independent features & consulting. He is an expert in placing both completed works into distribution & working with producers to make projects fundable. He conducts regular workshops in film producing in Los Angeles and most recently in Maine, Russia and in Myanmar (Burma).

Poster Girl, produced by Block was nominated for a Documentary Academy Award and selected by the Ida as the Best Doc Short 2011. It was also nominated for two Emmy Awards and aired on HBO. He is an executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Carrier, a 10-hour series that he conceived & co-created. Block is a graduate of Tisch School and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. He is a member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Television Academy, a founding member of BAFTA-la and has been teaching at USC School of Cinematic Arts since 1979. Currently Block teaches a required class in the USC Peter Stark Producing Program.

______________________________________________________________________

©2013Mwb All Rights Reserved All Rights Reserved. All information and designs on the Sites are copyrighted material owned by Block. Reproduction, dissemination, or transmission of any part of the material here without the express written consent of the owner is strictly prohibited.All other product names and marks on Block Direct, whether trademarks, service marks, or other type, and whether registered or unregistered, is the property of Block.

It’s the biggest night in Hollywoodland and we’re along for the crazy, caffeine-fueled night. Whether it’ll be Lincoln’s night or a wider net of awards there’ll be plenty to talk about for weeks to come.

If you’re on Twitter then follow us tweet the night away over at @heyuguys and you can keep abreast of all the winners as they are announced right here.

Ang Lee’s Life of Pi took home the most awards, with four statues to its name for Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, and Best Visual Effects.

Ben Affleck’s Argo and Tom Hooper’s Les Misérables were next, taking three apiece. Affleck’s third feature took the most coveted award of the evening, very much deservedly winning him, George Clooney, and Grant Heslov the Best Picture award, as well as taking home the Best Film Editing and...

Predicting the Oscars? Whew! It.s a tough one this year! Besides, honestly, Anne Hathaway and Daniel Day-Lewis, there.s no clear-cut favorite at the 85th Academy Awards. Even Hathaway and Day-Lewis are on shaky grounds, okay, not that much. They may be surefire but what about for Best Picture, or heck, Best Director with the presumed frontrunner, Ben Affleck, missing from the race?

But, every year, I slaved to give you my honest, heartfelt Oscar predictions, which should help you with your Oscar pool.I hope. If you win anything, just give me an Oscar buck!

So here you go, my complete 2013 Oscar predictions for all categories:

Here's the video of the top categories, for the complete predictions, keep on reading :happy

Best Picture

"Amour"

*** "Argo"

"Beasts Of The Southern Wild"

"Django Unchained"

"Les Miserables"

"Life Of Pi"

"Lincoln"

"Silver Linings Playbook"

"Zero Dark Thirty"

Will Win: .Argo. . Why?...

Predicting the Oscars? Whew! It.s a tough one this year! Besides, honestly, Anne Hathaway and Daniel Day-Lewis, there.s no clear-cut favorite at the 85th Academy Awards. Even Hathaway and Day-Lewis are on shaky grounds, okay, not that much. They may be surefire but what about for Best Picture, or heck, Best Director with the presumed frontrunner, Ben Affleck, missing from the race?

But, every year, I slaved to give you my honest, heartfelt Oscar predictions, which should help you with your Oscar pool.I hope. If you win anything, just give me an Oscar buck!

So here you go, my complete 2013 Oscar predictions for all categories:

Best Picture

"Amour"

*** "Argo"

"Beasts Of The Southern Wild"

"Django Unchained"

"Les Miserables"

"Life Of Pi"

"Lincoln"

"Silver Linings Playbook"

"Zero Dark Thirty"

Will Win: .Argo. . Why? Because it.s simply the best movie of 2012! Plus, it already won a Producer.s...

Sightseers

Directed by Ben Wheatley

Written by Steve Oram, Alice Lowe & Ben Wheatley (with additional material from Amy Jump)

2012, UK

Either Ben Wheatley is a boiling pot of pent-up rage, or he is the complete opposite and thus finds perverse pleasure in humouring the rage fantasies and violent tendencies of the frustrated working-class white English male. Even last year’s grit-fest, Kill List, is not entirely void of something approximating humour, even at its bleakest, blackest moments. But with this his third narrative feature, humour takes centre stage and everything springs forth from and brings forth comedy: the gory violence, the psychotic romance, the meat-and-potatoes relationship drama, the deranged road trip through northern England with a caravan in tow.

Thirty-something Tina (Alice Lowe) lives with her possessive, borderline personality mother in a house filled with countless photographs and sketches of their beloved deceased terrier Poppy, whose death by knitting needle...

This year’s line-up for the 68th Venice Film Festival, taking place between 31st August and 10th September, has been announced by the festival’s official website, and as expected, it’s more than a little bit fantastic, with a brilliant line-up of films set to screen in Italy.

Heading the jury this year will be director Darren Aronofsky, the BBC reported back in April, who won the festival’s top prize, the Golden Lion, back in 2008 for The Wrestler.

The list, as you can imagine, is a bit of a long one, so I’ve highlighted some of the hottest tipped to look out for beneath. Playing in competition will be:

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, directed by Tomas Alfredson Wuthering Heights, directed by Andrea Arnold Texas Killing Fields, directed by Ami Canaan Mann The Ides of March, directed by George Clooney Quando La Notte, directed by Cristina Comencini Terraferma,...

As told through the eyes of Mia, a mouthy 15-year-old aspiring hip-hop dancer, Fish Tank plays like a grittier, low-class version of An Education. Though both are British films, the worlds their characters inhabit could not be more different.

Mia doesn't seem to care about anything besides dancing and acting tough. Her wardrobe consists entirely of track suits and she drinks like a seasoned pro, both in her mother's scuzzy apartment and in the vacant one to where she escapes to practice her dancing. Both Mia and her younger sister curse without hesitation at their perpetually wasted mother (Kierston Wareing), who can't be a minute older than 30.

When her mother brings home a slimy, yet charming new boyfriend named Connor (Michael Fassbender of Inglourious Basterds and Hunger), Mia instantly becomes smitten when he compliments the way she dances along with a Ja Rule music video.

Writer/director Andrea Arnold originally...

Chicago – Andrea Arnold might be the best working filmmaker that you haven’t yet heard of. She won an Oscar for her short film “Wasp” and followed that up with the excellent “Red Road” and the even-better “Fish Tank,” a great drama now included in The Criterion Collection and available on Blu-ray and DVD.

Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0

It’s a sad fact that we live in a movie marketplace where films like “Fish Tank” struggle to find an audience. “Fish Tank” made $375,000 stateside and only about $2 million more internationally. (Then again, both those numbers are double “Red Road.”) “Little Fockers” made almost that much in just its 10th weekend in release. It can be disheartening if one really thinks about it.

Fish Tank was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on February 22nd, 2011

Photo credit: Courtesy of the Criterion Collection

But that’s one of the things I love the most about The Criterion Collection.

This Week in DVD & Blu-ray is a column that compiles all the latest info regarding new DVD and Blu-ray releases, sales, and exclusive deals from stores including Target, Best Buy and Fry’s. Due Date (Blu-ray available as 'Blu-ray only' and 'Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy') I wasn't nearly as impressed by The Hangover as the rest of the world seemed to be, nor was I as dismayed by Due Date. In my estimation, the primary reason Todd Phillips' latest comedy fell short of his previous effort is novelty—as much in premise as character dynamic and comedic set pieces. Given enough time, I think both films will appear similarly tired. Until then though, Due Date remains a moderately enjoyable Planes, Trains and Automobiles retread, afforded more vibrancy than it's worth due to its affable leads. Robert Downey Jr. plays the easily irritated straight man, and Zach Galifianakis plays the eccentric,...

The Film:

Not to take anything away from the events in Nikkie Reed’s life as seen in the semi-biopic Thirteen, but Fish Tank is the anti-Thirteen in almost every aspect, a truer look at loneliness at the teenage years. Thirteen had this feeling of safety, no matter the mistakes, drugs, or sex the lead character did. Despite that film’s roots in low budget film making, it still felt Hollywood. Don’t worry, the kids will be alright. Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank is harrowing. It’s minimalistic in its style and storytelling, and this combination creates a sad look at teenage angst and misguided sexual exploration.

Arnold never lets it sway into pity or sentimentality. The listlessness of the film’s events ring true because of that. Fish Tank follows a young 15-year old girl named Mia (Katie Jarvis) through her crappy home life, as her mom is...