Author: festreviews

HIGHLIGHTS – MAY 2018 DOCUMENTARY Short Film Festival

festreviews Uncategorized

documentaryfestival's avatarDocumentary Film Festival. Los Angeles & Toronto

AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS:

BEST FILM: REMAND

BEST SUBJECT MATTERS: WILDLAND

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: REMAND

BEST MUSIC: PROJECT 1948

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Videos:

festival posterPROJECT 1948, 13min., Bosnia, Documentary

festival posterREMAND, 40min., Uganda, Documentary

festival posterTHE UNDERGROUND ARTIST, USA, 3min., Documentary

festival posterMOTHERS & METHADONE, 11min, Canada, Documentary

festival posterWILDLAND, 25min., USA, Documentary

ee

The theme of the May 2018 DOCUMENTARY FEEDBACK Film Festival was “Repairing”. Every single film was about a world or characters needing to fix or repair the situations that they are currently in.

Documentary shorts festivals are easily the hardest to program for many reasons. The main two are because there are so many well made doc shorts that are over 20 minutes in length. And many of those said films have deep and emotionally hard to watch subjects. So you don’t want to overwelm the audience with so many different and important subjects in just one sitting.

So you have to…

View original post 140 more words

HIGHLIGHTS – April 2018 DOCUMENTARY Short Film Festival

festreviews Uncategorized

documentaryfestival's avatarDocumentary Film Festival. Los Angeles & Toronto

AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS:

BEST FILM Winner: THE GOOD BLINDER

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Videos:

festival posterSUNDAY DINNER, 15min., USA, Documentary

festival posterSCORCHED: MINE FIRES IN PENNSYLVANIA COAL COUNTRY, 6min., USA, Documentary

festival posterA GOOD BLINDER, 26min., USA, Documentary

The April 2018 Los Angeles FEEDBACK Film Festival was a tale of two festivals. The audience was overly positive and receptive in the first half documentary moderation, and then the gloves came out in the 2nd half. Perhaps the most “judgemental” and polarizing moderation session this festival has had in over 2 years.

The theme of the festival was “Self Empowerment”.

The LA Festival is building itself up month by month. The co-MVPs of the festival were our camera operators Zack Arch & Aser Santos Jr.. They have really nailed how to shoot in this gigantic cinema and make sure that all the coverage is there for the editor.

They both have to shoot hand-held…

View original post 98 more words

HIGHLIGHTS – March 2018 DOCUMENTARY Short Film Festival

festreviews Uncategorized

documentaryfestival's avatarDocumentary Film Festival. Los Angeles & Toronto

AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS:

BEST FILM: SUNUNU: THE REVOLUTION OF LOVE

BEST PERFORMANCES: FRONTLINE FENTANYL

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: FACE BLIND

BEST MUSIC: SUNUNU: THE REVOLUTION OF LOVE

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Videos:

festival posterFOR THE LOVE OF THE CHILD, 38min., USA, Documentary

festival posterPLEASURE BOYS, 8min., UK, Documentary

festival posterFACE BLIND, 4min., CAN, Documentary

festival posterFRONTLINE FENTANYL, 23min., CAN, Documentary

festival posterSUNUNU: THE REVOLUTION OF LOVE, 24min., UK, Documentary

The theme of the March 2018 Documentary Short Film Festival was “Bravery.” Every situation was about a character confronting a momental task.

This was a crazy day for the city of Toronto. It was the day before two interlocking holidays in Easter and Passover, something that rarely occurs in the calendar. To top it off the local professional baseball team (Blue Jays) was having its home opener, while it poured a windy and at times violent rain all day and night. So many people were driving into the…

View original post 133 more words

AUGUST 2018 Documentary Short Films

festreviews Uncategorized

documentaryfestival's avatarDocumentary Film Festival. Los Angeles & Toronto

Submit your Documentary Short Film to the Festival Today: http://documentaryshortfilmfestival.com

 

festival posterSAN GUERRERO, 4min., Argentina, Documentary

festival posterWATER, 4min, USA, Documentary

festival posterWEEKEND WARRIOR, 6min., USA, Documentary

festival posterISIS WAS HERE, 25min, Iraq, Documentary

festival posterHAART KENYA, 13min., Kenya, Documentary

festival posterHEARING FILMS, 8min., Canada, Documentary

festival posterBEYOND THE WALL, 26min., USA, Documentary

 

****

Producer/Director: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Festival Moderators: Kierston Drier, Shepsut Wilson
Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne
Editor: Kimberly Villarruel

Festival Directors: Mary Cox, Rachel Elder, Natasha Levy

Camera Operators: John Johnson, Isabal Cupryn, Aser Santos Jr., Zack Arch

View original post

JULY 2018 Documentary Short Films

festreviews Uncategorized

documentaryfestival's avatarDocumentary Film Festival. Los Angeles & Toronto

Submit your film exclusively via Film Freeway:

 

festival posterA PLACE IN THE CITY, 18min., USA, LGBT/Documentary

 

festival posterTHE LOVE INDUSTRY, 20min., USA, LGBT/Documentary

 

****

Producer/Director: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Festival Moderators: Kierston Drier, Shepsut Wilson
Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne
Editor: Kimberly Villarruel

Festival Directors: Mary Cox, Rachel Elder, Natasha Levy

Camera Operators: John Johnson, Isabal Cupryn, Aser Santos Jr., Zack Arch

View original post

JUNE 2018 Documentary Short Films

festreviews Uncategorized

documentaryfestival's avatarDocumentary Film Festival. Los Angeles & Toronto

Submit your film exclusively via Film Freeway:

  

festival posterOH! UGANDA, 5min., Uganda, Animation/Documentary

 

festival posterLAND OF MINE, 4min., Germany, Experimental

 

 

festival posterSOUNDS OF FREEDOM, 5min, USA, TV WEB SERIES/Drama

****

Producer/Director: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Festival Moderators: Kierston Drier, Shepsut Wilson
Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne
Editor: Kimberly Villarruel

Festival Directors: Mary Cox, Rachel Elder, Natasha Levy

Camera Operators: John Johnson, Isabal Cupryn, Aser Santos Jr., Zack Arch

View original post

May 2018 Documentary Short Films

festreviews Uncategorized

documentaryfestival's avatarDocumentary Film Festival. Los Angeles & Toronto

Submit your Documentary Short Film to the Festival Today: http://documentaryshortfilmfestival.com

festival posterPROJECT 1948, 13min., Bosnia, Documentary

festival posterREMAND, 40min., Uganda, Documentary

festival posterTHE UNDERGROUND ARTIST, USA, 3min., Documentary

festival posterMOTHERS & METHADONE, 11min, Canada, Documentary

festival posterWILDLAND, 25min., USA, Documentary

festival posterHANDS, 6min., UK, Experimental/Dance

festival posterTHE BUS TRIP, 13min., Sweden, Animation</td

****

Producer/Director: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Festival Moderators: Kierston Drier, Shepsut Wilson
Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne
Editor: Kimberly Villarruel

Festival Directors: Mary Cox, Rachel Elder, Natasha Levy

Camera Operators: John Johnson, Isabal Cupryn, Aser Santos Jr., Zack Arch

View original post

TIFF 2018 Review: THE INNOCENT (Der Unschuldige) (Switzerland/Germany 2018) ****

festreviews 2018 movies, movie, Movie Review, TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews, Uncategorized , , , , , , ,

Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2018. Go to TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

The Innocent Poster
Ruth is committed to her work, her family, and her faith, but when an ex-lover is released from prison and comes back into her life, her convictions are threatened.

Director:

Simon Jaquemet

Writer:

Simon Jaquemet

Stars:

Judith Hofmann, Christian Kaiser, Anna Tenta

Director Simon Jaquemet’s surreal, horrific, imaginative and indescribable THE INNOCENT tells the story of a emotionally disturbed Ruth.  The audience can tell something is definitely amiss when Ruth collapses during a religious meeting and after recovering on a patient bed, the camera catches a glimpse of the pastor zipping up his trousers.  

 Ruth is devoted to her work conducting clinical trials for spinal-cord research, and to the monkeys her lab uses for experiments. With the reappearance of a former lover, who was imprisoned for murdering his aunt decades earlier, the ground starts to shift under Ruth’s feet. As she enters an increasingly dark and troubled world, Jaquemet casts a mesmerizing web of uncertainty around his narrative. Ruth’s husband and daughter turn to religion for help against the forces that threaten to unravel their lives. 

 The film contains some really scary segments like the one Ruth experiences, a sort of take-off of Stanley Kubrick’s EYES WIDE SHUT when Ruth enters a worshipping cult.  This film has to be seen to be believed.  In Swiss German.

TIFF 2018 Review: KILLING (Japan 2018) ***

festreviews 2018 movies, movie, Movie Review, TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews, Uncategorized , , , , , ,

Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2018. Go to TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

Killing Poster
Set during the tumultuous mid-19th century Edo period of Japan Killing is the story of a masterless samurai or ronin named Ikematsu Sosuke. As the prevalent peace and tranquility are sure … See full summary »

Director:

Shin’ya Tsukamoto

Writer:

Shin’ya Tsukamoto (screenplay)

Stars:

Shin’ya Tsukamoto, Yû Aoi, Sôsuke Ikematsu

KILLING is a samurai action flick set in the era when samurais were roaming the land seeking for Masters to serve and to pay them for fighting (for them).  Samurais were still highly respected and many men wanted to become one.  Killing tells this familiar story but with more drama and authenticity. 

 The film looks like Akira Kurosawa’s RASHOMON where a large part of the action takes place within a forest with the sun shining through the trees  Director Mokunoshin Tsuzuki (Sosuke Ikematsu) is one such samurai, a warrior without a war to fight. Impoverished by the long-lasting peace of mid-19th-century Japan, he makes a living by helping farmers in a small village.  Life in the countryside flows uneventfully, between farming chores and playful daily sparring with Ichisuke (Ryusei Maeda), the hot-blooded farmer’s son who dreams of one day becoming a valiant samurai played by director Tsukamoto himself.  But the peaceful surface of the days belies hidden passions, an unspoken attraction for Ichisuke’s sister Yu (Yu Aoi), a looming sense of danger, and many doubts.  

The swords fights are edited too fast for one to really discern what is going on, but the excitement is still present.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=Ev53MlEVIIU

TIFF 2018 Review: SKIN (USA 2018) ***

festreviews 2018 movies, movie, Movie Review, TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews, Uncategorized , , , , , , ,

Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2018. Go to TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

Skin Poster
A destitute young man, raised by racist skinheads and notorious among white supremacists, turns his back on hatred and violence to transform his life, with the help of a black activist and the woman he loves.

Director:

Guy Nattiv

Writer:

Guy Nattiv

Stars:

Jamie Bell, Danielle Macdonald, Bill Camp

Nothing about the KKK on film and all of a sudden two films about infiltration of the Kuklaxklan, though SKIN does not specifically refer to this clan but a general neo-Nazi group.  The other difference is that the infiltrator in this one is white, and goes by the name of Byron Widner (Jamie Bell).  

He is caught on camera brutally attacking a black by the feds and forced into snitching or face jail time and losing everything he has.  At the same time he falls for a single mother, Julie (Danielle Macdonald) with three kids.  Nattiv’s film follows Byron as he slowly but surely gives up his racism.  His neo_Nazi mother and father go all to to prevent him from doing so.  Every time he disposes of one aspect of racism, he has a particular part of a tattoo on his face removed, a very painful process.  

Though based on a true story, the relationship between Byron and Julie is just not believable that he would give up all for her, for obvious reasons as seen on the screen.

Trailer: (unavailable)