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1957 Movie Review: THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, 1957

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THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, MOVIE POSTERTHE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, 1957
Movie Reviews

Directed by David Lean

Starring: Alec Guinness, William Holden, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa, and James Donald
Review by JR Kuzma

SYNOPSIS:

David Lean’s epic of a captured battalion of British soldiers and their proper colonel who are forced to build a bridge over the Kwai River for Japanese supply trains pass over.

Oscar wins: Best Actor- Alec Guinness, Best Cinematography- Jack Hildyard, Best Director- David Lean, Best Film Editing- Peter Taylor. Best Original Score- Malcolm Arnold, Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay

REVIEW:

The film starts out with two Allied PoWs burying a dead comrade, one of the men being U.S. Navy Commander Shears (William Holden), who, upon finishing up the burial service bribes a Japanese guard to put him and the other prisoner on the sick list to avoid more labor. It is about this time when they hear the whistling of the British tone “Colonel Bogey March” by a battalion led by Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness), Shears blows it off thinking it is just more men he is going to have to bury in the near future.

Upon arriving at the camp, the battalion is greeted by the camp commander Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa) who informs the new prisoners that they will be constructing a bridge for the Burma Railway for the River Kwai and that everyone will be working next to each other. This is a clear violation of the Geneva Convention, which states that officers were exempt from manual labor, Nicholson points out to Saito, Saito seems to take it under advisement and during an officers meeting that night Nicholson believes he had won the argument and orders all to put a halt to any escape attempts. This is the meeting in which Nicholson meets Shears and Shears informs him on how ruthless Saito can be, Nicholson takes his warning lightly believing that he has gotten through to the Japanese commander.

The next day however, Saito orders all the troops, officers included, to the construction site, Nicholson once again goes to Saito to mention that this action was against the Geneva Convention and Saito slaps him for it. Nicholson sends the troops to go work, but orders his officers to stay put. When the men are out of sight a truck carrying a machine gun pulls up and aims at Nicholson and the other officers, Saito warns them that they have to the count of three to join the troops and when they don’t move Saito starts the count, and upon getting to the count of one the camps doctor, Major Clipton (James Donald), informs Saito that the people in the medical tents were witnesses to the actions causing Saito to not give the order to fire, but instead leaves the officers to remain standing there the rest of the day under gun point.

Upon the troops return from their work they see the officers still standing in there position, they start cheering them on. Saito decides to try and negotiates with Nicholson, saying that he didn’t have to work but the rest of his officers did, Nicholson declines the offer and is put into “the oven”, a metal box, that with the heat and humidity of the region is like being cooked alive.

It is during this time that Shears (Holden) and two other prisoners attempt their escape. One man is shot very early on in the attempt and the other is gunned down at point blank range. Upon killing the second prisoner the Japanese guard is killed from behind by Shears and continues running, he makes it to a cliff were he is shot and wounded by another guard and falling into the river, believed to have drowned. We later see that he survived and is found and nursed back to health by some local villagers who give him a canoe and supplies and send him on his way to the Pacific where he is later found by a passing British naval ship and is taken back to their headquarters.

Back in the camp Nicholson is still in the oven, and Saito summons Clipton into his shack to inform him that the men in the medical tent were going to be sent out to work on the bridge, that is far behind schedule at this point, because of the stubbornness of Nicholson. Clipton informs him that this would be a death sentence to most of the men, so Saito sends Clipton to try and make Nicholson give in, once again Nicholson refuses. Clipton also informs Nicholson about the failed escape attempt, which leaves Nicholson to believe that escape would be impossible.

At this point, Saito is faced with the hard truth that everything he and his engineers have done so far hasn’t work, for the bridge continually falls apart, so Saito summons for Nicholson and tells him that if the bridge doesn’t get done in time that he will be forced to kill himself and that he will be taking a lot of people with him. It is at this point that Nicholson informs Saito that a few of the British officers were engineers in India and that they will look over that land to see what the problem was. Saito agrees to this and also makes it so the officers will not have to do any labor.

That night, Nicholson and his officers the maps and charts for the bridge and the next day review the grounds. They find out that the reason why the bridge keeps collapsing is that the bed rock is unstable and they will have to move the location up river a little. Saito allows this and construction is moved. Very quickly the troops morale starts to come back and the bridge’s construction is starting to move much more swiftly.

It is at this time, at the British headquarters, that a Special Operations team is being rounded up by Major Warden (Jack Hawkins) to go and blow up the bridge, thus cutting off the Japanese supply line. Warden recruits Shears because of the insight he has of the island. After much nagging, Shears finally agrees to go. The team of four are dropped on to the island and, though three land safely one does not and dies when he lands in the trees.

Team regroups, and with the help of a guide and a few ladies, makes their way to the bridge site. It is a journey that them takes over several days, where at one point they find out that a train will be using the bridge in the near future and another where they run into Japanese guards which they kill a few, leaving one to flee into the jungle, Warden and one of the other guys follow him in. It is during this encounter that Warden is shot in the foot while killing the Japanese man, forcing Warden to hobble the rest of the trek. Eventually though they make it to the newly completed build.

It is during this the teams journey that Nicholson and his men finish the bridge, where Nicholson ended up forcing his officers to do manual labor and to take some of the people out of the medical tent to also do little things to help finish everything up. Nicholson has taken great pride in the troops accomplishment and on the day the bridge is completed puts a plaque up informing whomever that this bridge was completed by British troops.

Later that evening, the troops put on a show for the camp, it is during this celebration that the Shears, the guide, and the other member of the team mine the bridge. Upon finishing their task, they head down river to a lookout point and wait.

The next morning, the team notices that the river had gone down during the night, leaving the line of cable to be visible when it is stuck on a log. Meanwhile the troops from the camps are sent to another location, but Saito allows Nicholson and Clipton to remain behind to see the first usage of the bridge. Clipton goes to a nearby hill while Nicholson remains on the bridge for one last inspection. It is at this time that Nicholson spots the cable and he and Saito go do to the river to investigate. Seeing something is up, Nicholson and Saito follow the cable to the location where one of the soldiers is hiding with the detonator. The soldier quickly kills Saito, by stabbing him in the back, Nicholson then tackles him and calls for help. On the other side of the river, Shears is watching this take place and quickly goes to aid the other team member, while Warden is on a nearby cliff firing artillery shells down on the Japanese soldiers, all while the train can be heard in the distance.

The other soldier is shot by a Japanese guard, as Shears gets to the beach, heading at Nicholson with a knife in his hand. Shears is gunned down, looking at Nicholson and both noticing whom each other are, he drops dead. Nicholson quickly realizes the error he had made and goes toward the detonator, when a shell lands in his general area, he is morality wounded, but is able to make it to his feet, walks a few more steps when he falls down right on the trigger of the detonator causing the bridge to blow up, right when the train was going over it. Clipton, seeing all this action take place, goes down to investigate and can simply say “Madness”.

When this film was released in 1957, it was highly criticized for not depicting the realistic condition that the British PoWs went through under the Japanese, however most critic ignored this and saw the movie for what it was, a true masterpiece. It took home seven Academy Awards that year including Best Actor for Guinness, Best Director for Lean and Best Picture. In 1998, the American Film Institute voted it the 13th best film of the last 100 years and when they remade the list in 2007 it was 14th.

On a personal level this is my favorite David Lean film. It’s nowhere near as flashy or as epic as Lawrence of Arabia, but it has more emotion. It really causes you to get more caught up in the more, and it has you rooting for until the very end. Though the film is nearly three hours long, it moves quickly, so it doesn’t seem like it. This is a true classic and I highly recommend a viewing. Enjoy.

 

 

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bridget on the river kwai

1957 Movie Review: THE BLACK SCORPION, 1957

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THE BLACK SCORPION, 1957
Movie Reviews

Director: Edward Ludwing
Starring: Richard Denning, Mara Corday, Carlos Rivas, Mario Navarro, Carlos Múzquiz, Pascual García Peñat
Review by Kevin Johnson

SYNOPSIS:

Recent volcanic eruptions release an army of giant scorpions to the surface; a team of doctors and army officials work up a plan to try and stop them.

REVIEW:

The problem with the monster films from the “Golden Era” of cinema is that, after the well-budgeted, decently refined classics, one inevitably have to watch the less-than-stellar crop of B-movies that, frankly, may not hold up as well from before. These are the films that are wonderfully ridiculed by the Mystery Science Theater 3000 crew. And, unfortunately, I don’t have Tom, Mike, Joel, or Crow to help me through it.

Still, there’s something revelatory when watching these films. The term “Golden Era” in relation to entertainment doesn’t exactly refer to the overall quality but the streamlined, consistent, large number of films actually produced. So, to see the lower-quality and weaker films that were produced gives a clearer picture of the specifics and details of the overall production of films created in this time period. In other words, it averages out one’s perception of the regulated, controlled studio system.

Two geologists go to investigate a series of volcanic eruption taking place in Mexico. When they find evidence of isolated destruction and several dead people stricken with poison, it’s soon discovered that a number of massive scorpions were freed from their obsidian-trapped prisons from the eruption. They attack the local villages and soon set their sights on Mexico City.

If there’s one thing to gleam from a film like this, it’s the regularity to which studio executives and filmmakers maintained a strict necessity for certain conventions – specifically, the need for a female lead and a romantic subplot. And while a variation of this “rule” certainly exist today, the extent to which it was utilized in the 50s is obviously glaring, especially in films with little subtlety. The Black Scorpion, in a nutshell, completely shifts gears to “park,” to try and develop a chemistry between scientist Hank Scott and Teresa Alvarez. It doesn’t work.

It’s a shame, too. The movie starts of very well—intriguingly so. The geologists find a few dead bodies and large-scaled damage, and the local village panics as rumors spreads, injuries mount up, and spooked ranchers rant about sightings of monsters in the fields. Even the introduction of the female lead works – after all, she’s just a brave rancher who’s just trying to find help in all the paranoid madness. Too bad that, by the thirty-minute mark, the film’s flaws become much more pronounced. Several doctor and military characters exposit plot points just to advance the movie (and are just terrible, terrible actors), and, as mentioned before, the romantic moments add nothing to the overall film or the distinct characters’ relationships. And that’s leaving out the unnecessary poor-acting from the young help, Juanito (Mario Navarro), who just gets into random trouble to try and create tension. It doesn’t work, either.

But what DOES work is the special effects from supervisor Willis O’Brien, who was friends with Ray Harryhausen, the special effects wizard for The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (looks like the connections never end!). Watching the giant scorpions wreck havoc on trains, buildings, people, cars, tanks, and even helicopters is quite amazing, mainly because everything moves really fast and yet remains clear in visual action. And, to be blunt, the scorpions are vicious with their attacks.

There are also a couple of awesome creatures taken from unused sequences from the film King Kong; specifically, the spider that chases Juanito in the cave, and a strange worm-like creature that assaults a scorpion. It’s pretty cool to see some 1933 beasts return from hibernation to see them in action. What’s not so cool is the close-ups of the scorpions’ faces. While awesomely creepy and scary the first time around, they filmmakers rely WAY too much on it, which just makes it ultimatley annoying in the end.

Still, The Black Scorpion is a decent indication of the “less-than-average” type of film made in the 50s. It’s more indicative of the mediocre B-films of that time period, like how the myriad of B-horror films might explain something about the naughts of this decade. While I won’t try and convince people to watch this film, it does make an interesting study. And the special effects are at least worth it, so there is that.

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THE BLACK SCORPION

1957 Movie Review: AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER, 1957

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AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER MOVIE POSTER
AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER, 1957

Directed by Leo McCarey
Starring: Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr
Review by Michael Aloisi

SYNOPSIS:

A man and a woman both involved in relationships, meet, fall in love and plan to meet each other again in six months to spend their lives together. But does it happen?

Review:

The ultimate playboy, Nickie Ferrante, played by the always enjoyable Cary Grant is about to get married to a famous millionaire. While on a cruise to America to be with his fiancé, he meets Terry McKay (Deborah Kerr), a beautiful woman who is also involved in a relationship of her own. Nickie is at first embarrassed and impressed that she can resist his advances, for almost no woman can. The two begin to spend time together while stuck on the boat for the long journey across the ocean. Slowly but surely they fall madly in love.

Knowing they need time to straighten out their lives and break it off with their current relationships, they make a plan to meet in six months at the top of the Empire State Building. Time ticks by and the two never talk, but work towards their goals to get together. Finally when the day arrives Nickie waits on the 102nd floor, but Terry never shows. Thinking she deserted him Nickie slips into a deep depression as time slips by and the fate of the couple hangs in the balance.

The first hour of the movie takes place almost completely on the cruise ship, with one interlude in Italy. It is thoroughly enjoyable to watch Grant and Kerr play a flirty game of cat and mouse as they both fall for each other. Yet the second half of the film, while the two are apart, lacks the chemistry and enjoyment that the first half does. It feels a bit long and slow and even has two completely unnecessary and long musical numbers that does nothing to help the film. And the fact that the climatic twist in the film is so simple to solve you want to yell at the characters for being stupid, is a bit hard to swallow in modern times. The ending is also a bit anti-climactic and rushed but still satisfying. The chemistry between Grant and Kerr is what placed this movie at number 5 on the greatest romantic movies of all time list by AFI. Those expecting to be knocked over by this classic film should lower their expectations and just appreciate a story of real love.

For those who love Sleepless in Seattle, this movie is a great accompaniment since it mentioned in it several times and even inspired the ending. In fact after Sleepless was released over two million copies of An Affair To Remember were sold! Yet no one seems to remember that Affair is a remake itself of a 1939 film called Love Affair.

 

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AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER

1957 Movie Review: 3:10 TO YUMA, 1957

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3:10 TO YUMA, 1957
Movie Review
Directed by Delmer Daves
Starring: Glenn Ford, Van Heflin
Review by Alan Barkley

SYNOPSIS:

Against all odds, a man must deliver a captured outlaw to the afternoon prison train.

REVIEW:

In 1974 Toronto took the bold step of enhancing its system of electric streetcars at a time when they had been virtually abandoned in North America as city transportation. A new design was in order and industrial designer Claude Gidman was the handed the task and the question: should a new streetcar be a sleek urban bullet of contemporary design or something less dramatic. Gidman chose to extend the visual legacy of the streetcar rather than upend it and, while the new design incorporated relevant ergonomic and environmental upgrades from the 1930s version, riders experienced the newer streetcars like compatible cousins of the vintage cars that shared the same downtown tracks. 3:10 to Yuma which began as a short story in 1953 and has seen two film adaptations made in 1957 and 2007 exists in much this way: spanning five decades, these three iterations of the story shift along on the same rails, each version advancing the narrative while remaining deferential to its predecessor.

Elmore Leonard’s short story was published in 1953, the year after the successful release of High Noon in which tension builds towards the arrival of a fateful train carrying outlaws sworn to kill Gary Cooper’s marshal. Echoing High Noon’s ticking clock, Leonard’s lawman guards a prisoner in a hotel awaiting the arrival of the 3:10 train that will take the outlaw to a prison in Yuma Arizona. Standing in the way of the lawman’s duty is the outlaw’s vicious gang surrounding the hotel and the handcuffed outlaw himself who uses all his wiles to undermine the deputy’s resolve.

Screenwriter Halsted Welles kept Leonard’s hotel conflict as the centerpiece of the 1957 film adaptation and backed it up with an invented story of a rancher (Van Heflin) living on hard times who accepts Wells Fargo’s two hundred dollars to take outlaw Ben Wade (Glen Ford) to the prison train. In turn, writers Michael Brandt and Derek Hass (2 Fast 2 Furious) kept Halsted’s backstory for their 2007 adaptation but upped the ante for Christian Bale’s rancher, giving him the additional burdens of a sickly son and an amputated foot, his legacy from the Civil War.

If all this seems like excessive motivation it’s certainly true that audiences didn’t always want such explicit crosses for their heroes to carry. The short story’s deputy marshal doesn’t need special reasons to do his job and both films depart from the original’s understated hero who performs his duty bravely and competently because those qualities are simply part of who he is. Leonard’s story cares less about the hero’s character arc and more about the hero’s character.

These days, however, the John Wayne cowboy is a hard sell. We prefer our heroes to have a plight that intersects with the plot and we want those personal challenges to be detailed and specific. We’ve become suspicious of virtues like courage and resolve that appear shopworn when they’re presented without context. So if Halsted and Hass and Brandt gilded the rancher’s hardship lily, their strategy moves us closer to the action, creating serious doubt about an outcome that might otherwise have felt like a forgone conclusion.

Writer Welles fleshed out the personality of Elmore Leonard’s Ben Wade and created an amalgam of ironic charm, ruthlessness, and womanizing that Hass and Brandt retained including the pivotal scene where Ben Wade seduces the lady bartender while hunting posses and fleeing gang members whirl around him. Ben Wade energizes both movies the way Robert Louis Stephenson’s rogue pirate Long John Silver lit up Treasure Island, his villainy at once repellent and attractive, confounding the viewer’s judgment while pulling one deeper into the story. Glen Ford brought Ben Wade to life in 1957 and Russell Crowe added cockiness and unpredictability to the part in 2007.

Haas and Brandt correctly saw the 1957 version as a two-act play and added a rollicking middle section full of fights, horseback chases, and deadly confrontations that we tend to think western movies are all about. And director Robert Mangold makes the most of it, transforming the earlier black and white film into a vivid and active wild west setting for the solid drama.

Remakes don’t succeed when wrong choices are made about what to keep and what to discard. The 3:10 to Yuma films work because they never try to eclipse the original. It’s interesting to see Halstead Welles’ name listed in the screenwriting credits for the 2007 film, along with Brandt and Haas. Although he had died by the time the new version had begun Welles, like Elmore Leonard before him, had already made his contribution.

 

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310 TO YUMA

1957 Movie Review: 12 ANGRY MEN, 1957

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12 ANGRY MEN MOVIE POSTER
12 ANGRY MEN, 1957
Movie Reviews

Directed by Sidney Lumet
Starring: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley, Martin Balsam, John Fieldler, E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, Ed Binns, Jack Warden, Joseph Sweeney, George Voskovec, Robert Webber
Review by Christopher Almeida

SYNOPSIS:

A dissenting juror in a murder trial slowly manages to convince the others that the case is not as obviously clear as it seemed in court.

OSCAR nominee for Best Director, Best Picture, Best Screenplay

REVIEW:

‘All rise…the court is in session…’ Well, actually, it isn’t. The real drama in this Court Room happens in the Jury room. 12 Jurors have to come to an anonymous vote. While everyone votes guilty, our male protagonist, Juror 11, isn’t quite so sure. This case has to be treated delicately – after all, the defendant has the death penalty for murder.

The hero comes in the form of Henry Fonda. The star has appeared in 106 films. The most famous are 12 Angry Men, The Grapes of Wrath and On Golden Pond.

The director comes in the form of Sidney Lumet, who has made the transfer from television to film. However, don’t let that discourage you- judging by this film, he has done it successfully. Lumet churns the issues around the room using character and innuendos and as a result raises the stakes at a steady pace. For further evidence- it won him the Golden Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival. The film also won three Oscar nominations.

Lumet’s transfer from one Medium to another may explain the number of close-ups. This isn’t bad thing at all – it does create a nice intense, powerful atmosphere. The close-up shots come in handy when searching for empathy. Lumet gives close-ups to every other character except for the hero at the start of the film. It is almost to the effect that we are examining the evidence and, indeed, the other jurors. This creates the most empathy because we don’t know how it’s going to end and neither does Henry Fonda.

Most heroes, in films, are sure of their objective half an hour into a film, this hero is unsure throughout.

At this point you must be thinking what is Henry Fonda’s character name? This is first thing that separates it from other films. We don’t learn any of the character’s names. The film concentrates on hero and his journey. Not a single line is wasted; all the characters are sculpted using actors from the highest caliber. Another distinction is the cinematography. Which mainstream film uses more close-ups than long shots? Yeah, I heard you- except for The Blair Witch Project! The film together with Rose’s screenplay is a masterpiece.

Reginald Rose’s screenplay is very well crafted. Themes of stereotyping, second chances and ageism are perfect ingredients for the story’s substance. A nice cool beer on a hot day and sitting in your deck chair is the only description I have for the story’s substance without using a clinched word such as refreshing. The themes are well placed- two words- pitch perfect!

The only flaws here is that it relies on stereotypical characters to create predictable sub-issues; Sub-issues such as young, naïve boy and angry man. However, Lee.J. Cobbs does such a powerhouse performance that the flaw blows right over your head.

Target audience? It is for anyone who wants to think afterwards ‘Hmm…Now that was worth seeing!’ But seriously though, the ideal target audience is for 20- to however mature you may be.

Twelve Angry Men requires concentrated viewing but that doesn’t mean it’s boring. The dips into and out of story using light humour gives it a nice balance.

 

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12 ANGRY MEN

October 2017 – Read Interviews with Winning Short Filmmakers

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WILDsound Festival's avatarWILDsound Festival

Interview with 15 winning short filmmakers from around the world. Interviews by Matthew Toffolo:

Interview with Director James Bowsher (WITHHELD)
https://matthewtoffolo.com/2017/10/06/interview-with-director-james-bowsher-withheld/

 

Interview with Director Steve Hally (TWISTED SOBRIETY)
https://matthewtoffolo.com/2017/10/09/interview-with-director-steve-hally-twisted-sobriety/

 

Interview with Director Andi Osho (AMBER)
https://matthewtoffolo.com/2017/10/06/interview-with-director-andi-osho-amber/

 

Interview with Directed Eric Shahinian (FOREIGN SOUNDS)
https://matthewtoffolo.com/2017/10/06/interview-with-directed-eric-shahinian-foreign-sounds/

 

Interview with Directed Elaine Chu (MANEKI-NEKO)
https://matthewtoffolo.com/2017/10/06/interview-with-directed-elaine-chu-maneki-neko/

 Interview with Director Jana Stackhouse (THE MAN WHO DOESN’T SLEEP) https://matthewtoffolo.com/2017/10/03/interview-with-director-jana-stackhouse-the-man-who-doesnt-sleep/

 

Interview with director Anthony Bennett (MY LITTLE BROTHER)
https://matthewtoffolo.com/2017/10/03/interview-with-director-anthony-bennett-my-little-brother/

 

Interview with Animation Director Peter Zhaoyu Zhou (KARMA)
https://matthewtoffolo.com/2017/10/03/interview-with-animation-director-peter-zhaoyu-zhou-karma/

 

Interview with Director Margaret Costa (MY NAME IS JOAN)
https://matthewtoffolo.com/2017/09/24/interview-with-director-margaret-costa-my-name-is-joan/

 

Interview with Director Igor Gavva (SUITCASE)
https://matthewtoffolo.com/2017/09/23/interview-with-director-igor-gavva-suitcase/

 

Interview with Director Andrea Behring (BAGGAGE)
https://matthewtoffolo.com/2017/09/23/interview-with-director-andrea-behring-baggage/

 

Interview with Director Dan Pal (COUNTING)
https://matthewtoffolo.com/2017/09/23/interview-with-director-dan-pal-counting/

 

Interview with Director Andrew Galloway (WALLY)
https://matthewtoffolo.com/2017/09/23/interview-with-director-andrew-galloway-wally/

 

Interview with director Katie Maguire (THE SESSION)
https://matthewtoffolo.com/2017/09/23/interview-with-director-katie-maguire-the-session/

 

Interview with Director’s Blair Bomar & Olivia Applegate (GRACE & GRIT)

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Interview with Festival Directors Nick John Whittle & Stuart Wheeldon (9LadiesFilmFestival)

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9LadiesFilmFestival is a distinguished independent film festival showcasing short films from around the world to an audience of film fans and movie-makers.

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What is your Film Festival succeeding at doing for filmmakers?

9LadiesFilmFestival brings cinematic exposure for independent filmmakers. That’s what filmmaking is essentially about: getting audiences to see your creation. And with exposure comes possibilities. It isn’t just about letting the common man see your film. There are scores of studios out there watching indie films. If they see something that ticks boxes they’ll grab it. Famous case in point: Paranormal Activity.

There are also the laurel stamps for the winners. Films showing laurel stamps in their credits are proven to be the ones most watched. True, it’s not necessarily the mark of an all-round incredible film but it shows it has been scrutinized by professionals and that one element of it (or several) passes muster. It also proves that the filmmakers have a belief in their product and have put in the man hours (and money) to get it through the festival process.

What would you expect to experience if you attend the festival this year (2017)?

Our finalists this year will enjoy a specific location for their live screening, from historical houses to modern cinemas. We’ve worked hard to secure theatres that in some way add a cultural essence to the screenings. This isn’t just town-hall-and-sandwiches stuff; it’s a festival with a difference. Always has been.

9LadiesFilmFestival promotes the work of inventive, original, free-thinking and independent filmmakers; to raise their profile throughout the web and connect them with established industry professionals around the world. One of the ways we do this is by creating and taking care of your online presence; creating a web page for your winning film and promoting it like hellfire across social media platforms.

What are the qualifications for the selected films?

9LadiesFilmFestival accepts short films and documentaries and we take submissions from filmmakers all around the world. We stipulated that the language of the piece has to be in English (or at least subtitled) but we’ve left things very free and easy deliberately. The films are required to be either 9 mins or less or 10-29 minutes long. The whole theme of this year’s festival is “nine” in honour of our parent company’s title.

 Do you think that some films really don’t get a fair shake from film festivals? And if so, why?

We believe every film gets a fair shake. Film festivals are an essential part of the growth of an indie moviemaker. If the festival is managed correctly and in a just and reasonable way everyone has equal chance of becoming a winner. Festivals open gateways to the Bigger Picture, to distribution possibilities…a festival like ours represents equal opportunity for everyone – from beginner to expert.

What motivates you and your team to do this festival?

A passion for making great movies and helping others through the process.

How has your FilmFreeway submission process been?

We have found the FilmFreeway submission process very good, we are already up on the number of entries for the current time of year. With recent tweeks to the way the FilmFreeway program works it is easier to manage the film festival process. And it seems that more and more filmmakers are now using the FilmFreeway Submission process.

Where do you see the festival by 2020?

We’d like to think the festival will have grown to the point where we can award substantial funding and great distribution opportunities to the winners.  There are a huge number of inspiring and culturally stand-out filmmakers out there and we look forward to viewing their work.

 What film have you seen the most times in your life?

Nick: Casino Royale (the good one!)

Stuart. The Red Shoes

In one sentence, what makes a great film?

Basically, a great story. A movie is like a book in some ways with scene cuts instead of page turns…if you’re bored by the plot of a book you won’t turn a page. On the other hand, if you love it, you can’t stop turning pages. A movie is also story – whether you pour millions of dollars into a project or not, if the story doesn’t hit the spot it won’t be successful. Add superb characters to your story and plenty of subtext and you have a winner.

There is a technical consideration as well, something we like to look at in the festival. Sound, direction, visuals, lighting, props are all taken into consideration as technical achievements of a movie. After all, they are important aspects of the art.

 How is the film scene in your city?

We are fortunate that in the Midlands the film scene is thriving, there are a number of very good Independent Cinemas that show films that otherwise wouldn’t get a release, the indie film making scene is also very good, with the likes of cities such as Nottingham, Sheffield and Birmingham all  have a thriving Indie scene.

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Nick John Whittle – Producer. Nick is an award winning writer and producer based in Birmingham. His work includes the award winning film Faith, The Adventures of Joshua (TV mini-series), No Way Back (short/horror) Nick’s cinematic influences include Beckett, Hitchcock, Buñuel, Mamet, Allen, Jarmusch, and Bergman. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm7825353/. nick is the co- director of the 9ladiesfilmfestival.

Stuart Wheeldon. Writer/Director Stuart is an award winning writer and director and founder of Nine Ladies Film. Stuart’s work as included theatrical plays, radio and film shown and featured around the world. His work includes In Limbo, The Telephone, The Collector (Pre-Production)and The Wasteland.  Stuart was also the founder of 9ladiesfilmfestival which in it’s first year attracted over 200 entries from around the world. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm7240661

 *****

Interviewer Matthew Toffolo is currently the CEO of the WILDsound FEEDBACK Film & Writing Festival. The festival that showcases 20-50 screenplay and story readings performed by professional actors every month. And the FEEDBACK Monthly Festival held in downtown Toronto, and Los Angeles at least 2 times a month. Go to www.wildsound.ca for more information and to submit your work to the festival.

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Interview with Festival Director Vanna Nauk (Fresno’s State Asian Pacific Film Festival)

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The Asian Pacific Islander Programs and Services will be hosting the 1ST EVER Asian Pacific Islander Film Fest at Fresno State! They will be hosting this event along with CineCulture! It’s a two day event beginning on Friday, October 20, 2017 to Saturday, October 21, 2107.

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What is your Film Festival succeeding at doing for filmmakers?

We are providing them a space to display their work in Fresno, which is the fifth largest city in California, so we were definitely due for an Asian Pacific Islander Film Festival of our own.

What would you expect to experience if you attend the festival this year (2017)?

I hope that I see a sense of solidarity amongst the Asian Pacific Islander groups here in the Central Valley, and I hope that this can be an opportunity for others outside of our group to see that Asian Pacific Islanders are actually very talented in film. Overall, I hope to feel a sense of pride amongst my peers.

What are the qualifications for the selected films?

Sense it is an Asian Pacific Islander Film Festival, the films have to have some sort of Asian Pacific Islander element in there or involved in the making.

Do you think that some films really don’t get a fair shake from film festivals? And if so, why?

I do, I think that some ethnic groups are overlooked, which is why we are trying to promote Southeast Asian films as much as possible because their visibility tend to go silent.

What motivates you and your team to do this festival?

You do not see very many Asians on screen, so we decided to create a space for ourselves.

How has your FilmFreeway submission process been?

FilmFreeway has been extremely helpful and the submissions are pouring in quite rapidly.

Where do you see the festival by 2020?

I hope that the festival becomes an annual event that will connect the university with the community. I see a lot of potential in our greater Asian Pacific Islander community here in the Central Valley, and I hope that this Festival will grow into something that they can take pride.

What film have you seen the most times in your life?

Hercules [laugh out loud]
In one sentence, what makes a great film?

The theme/plot!

How is the film scene in your city?

The film scene in our city is most renowned for the Reel Pride Film Festival, which is one of the largest, if not the largest, LGBTQ Film Festival in the west coast. We also have Filmworks and Cineculture, which are great film organization here in Fresno. However, there are definitely room for the film scene to grow here.

 *****

Interviewer Matthew Toffolo is currently the CEO of the WILDsound FEEDBACK Film & Writing Festival. The festival that showcases 20-50 screenplay and story readings performed by professional actors every month. And the FEEDBACK Monthly Festival held in downtown Toronto, and Los Angeles at least 2 times a month. Go to www.wildsound.ca for more information and to submit your work to the festival.

SUBMIT your TV PILOT Screenplay or TV SPEC Script
Voted #1 TV Contest in North America.		 Screenplay CONTESTSUBMIT your Short Screenplay or FEATURE Script
FULL FEEDBACK on all entries. Get your script performed

Interview with Festival Directors Betsy Uhler Colombo & Alexa Roman (LA Dance Film Festival)

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The LA Dance Film Festival aims to provide a supportive and enriching environment for both emerging and established dance filmmakers. The festival is open to filmmakers from around the world. LADFF accepts films from a variety of genres as long as dance is the main storytelling component.

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What is your Film Festival succeeding at doing for filmmakers?

Our film festival has been successful at fulfilling our mission, which is twofold: 1) to create opportunities and exposure for dance films from around the world, and 2) to unite the Los Angeles dance and film communities.

 What would you expect to experience if you attend the festival this year (2017)?

Attendees to our festival in January 2018 should expect to see a wide variety of short dance films from around the world. We have some fantastic submissions coming in across all styles and genres of dance, and are looking forward to sharing a selection of them with our local community of dance film lovers.

 What are the qualifications for the selected films?

Qualifying films are under 30 minutes in length, and incorporate dance as a core narrative component. We have two categories: fiction and nonfiction.

 Do you think that some films really don’t get a fair shake from film festivals? And if so, why?

It’s hard for us to speak to other festivals but we take a lot of steps to ensure we are as objective as possible in how we assess films. We have a submissions team comprised of dancers, filmmakers and dance filmmakers. Our team watches every film and scores it against a multi-point rubric. We use the scores to determine the final selections for the festival. Separately, we have both a Jury Award and an Audience Award. Those awards are determined by people who are independent from the festival staff.

What motivates you and your team to do this festival?

We are motivated by our desire to provide opportunities and exposure for dance films from around the world as well as unite the dance and film communities here in Los Angeles. Dance film offers something different than traditional films and it’s not a commonly known genre. We wanted to make Los Angeles a place where dance filmmaking and dance film viewership thrive.

How has your FilmFreeway submission process been?

Great! We love FilmFreeway. We also use WithoutaBox and we offer an extended deadline on WithoutaBox.

Where do you see the festival by 2020?

We’d love to be able to expand to a bigger venue and offer multiple days of programming so we can reach a wider audience and offer screening opportunities to a greater number films.

 What film have you seen the most times in your life?

Beverly Hills Cop. Maybe Beverly Hills Cop III.

If we’re talking dance films, I’ve seen Confrontation (dir. Shannon Janet Smith and Steven Butler) the most as it has played at three festivals I’ve attended, was part of a StandardVision Showcase and we screened it at our festival. Thomas Freundlich’s film Cold Storageis a close second. [Alexa]

 In one sentence, what makes a great film?

A great dance film uses the art of dance to tell a compelling story in a unique and entertaining way. It leaves the audience asking questions, entertaining new thoughts or discovering untapped emotions.

  How is the film scene in your city?

Los Angeles is the film capitol of the world, so… pretty good!

 

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 *****

Interviewer Matthew Toffolo is currently the CEO of the WILDsound FEEDBACK Film & Writing Festival. The festival that showcases 20-50 screenplay and story readings performed by professional actors every month. And the FEEDBACK Monthly Festival held in downtown Toronto, and Los Angeles at least 2 times a month. Go to www.wildsound.ca for more information and to submit your work to the festival.

SUBMIT your TV PILOT Screenplay or TV SPEC Script
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Interview with Festival Director Alessandro Cassa (FICMAN/INSFF)

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What is FICMAN/INSFF in a few words ? 12 months. 12 finalists. 1 great winner! Filmmakers, get noticed! FICMAN / INSFF is an international film festival and LIVE screening for Short film. Be part of this one of a kind festival for shorts lovers, and give your film and your talent a chance to be shown and noticed by the right people from all over the world.  FICMAN / INSFF is produced by Productions du 3 juin, a company from Québec (Canada) recognized internationally. Since 2007,Productions du 3 juin has focused on production (videos, short films and promotional documentaries) for various renowned clients. This creative company is recognized internationally and followed by people from 47 countries on its WEBTV (P3J.TV) and VIMÉO PRODUCTIONS DU 3 JUIN channel. To celebrate its 15 years in 2017, it has founded the FICMAN International Short Film Festival, in which it excels, and WEBTV by P3J.TV which offers an immersion in emotion, its production line.

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What is your Film Festival succeeding at doing for filmmakers? 

All filmmakers work hard to realise and produce their Short… and FICMAN/INSFF wants to give author’s film a chance to be seen and to be discovered all around the world. This is why FICMAN/INSFF is a monthly international competition that offers the opportunity to be selected for a live screening in Québec (Canada) at the end of the year: a great night of short to present and choose the best of the best. But all year round it is also a moment to be discovered by an international jury from the industry, and most of all, to have its trailer (for monthly winners) relayed on P3J.TV, a cultural WebTV followed by people from 47 countries. And because we all need recognitions in this industry, our Festival will give official Laurels, review on a professional cinema blog (LE PETIT SEPTIÈME) and much more to winners. Prizes of more than $ 15,000 in visibility and recognition will be awarded.

We create this one of a kind festival for short films lovers, to give to filmmakers a chance to be shown and noticed by the right people from all over the world. So, each month, for a year, a winner will be chosen in a monthly competition from the submissions received during the past month, what means we will have more than 12 Films Finalists. The trailer of this Finalist Short Winner will be shown on P3J.TV with a bio of the Director, the poster of the Film and a description of the Short. FICMAN/INSFF offers international visibility, recognitions, and a chance to be discovered!

What are the qualifications for the selected films? 

FICMAN/INSFF is really a simple and friendly user Short Film Festival for author’s film. Shorts submitted must have a trailer that will be shown on the international cultural WebTV called P3J.TV. Short must have been made for 5 years or less, and our festival is also open to first films and student films. Of course, the film will not be shown online, but on the yearly live screening. The following categories of fiction films are eligible: author’s film, narrative film, silent film, art film, animated film, experimental film, student film, first work, documentary fiction, video clip, web series. Short films must be under 15 minutes and all Submissions must be subtitled in English (for non-French speaking films). Silent films are also accepted. All the details are on our website (www.ficman-insff.com) and FILMREEWAY.

What motivates you and your team to do this festival? 

The FICMAN/INSFF team simply loved Short film! Our motivation is simple, we want to help promote inspiring, honest short films that focus on the director’s vision and reflect their personality. Whether the films are poetic, intimate, touching, funny or political, we want to put the spotlight on high-quality works that reflect the personality of the director who wrote and created them from a single idea, a vision of the story they wanted to tell, the universe they wanted to share. As a festival and platform for discovery, FICMAN-INSFF, also wants to help highlight short films in the current cinematographic landscape that were written and directed by the same person. Works that present their own universe. And we simply want to celebrate the many independent shorts from all over.

In one sentence, what makes a great film? 

We believe that all great film begins with a great idea, a flash of genius, and the desire to bring a personal universe to life.

How has your FilmFreeway submission process been? 

From the beginning of the process, and from the beginning of the adventure, the FilmFreeway Team has been there to help us with all the steps for creating our Festival page’s. And we must say that the submission processes each month, of our monthly competition, is easy and friendly user. For us, to manage, and for the Jury. All this offers an great opening and a great opportunity to connect with Filmmakers from all the world, and must of all, with FilmFreeway, we are able to do it the right way.

Where do you see the festival by 2020? 

Our vision is to be, in 2020, one the recognized international Festival, dedicated to narratives Shorts. And we wish that through the years, we will give a chance to Filmmakers to get noticed… to encourage them to continue and to create more shorts. As a Director myself, I know that first of all, we have to believe in us, and to believe in the potential of our film. Our festival is there, simply for that: to help creators to believed in their ideas, by getting visibility and recognitions with FICMAN. And we wish for FICMAN, to be recognized that way in 2020. We have three years do to so!

What film have you seen the most times in your life? 

I must confess to be honest, that one of the first movie I saw, and the one I am always trilled to see again and again, is Signing in the rain with Gene Kelly. For a lot of reasons (quality of actors, music, script, dance numbers of course…) but for one reason in particular. It was the first time I saw, behind the scene. And that day I knew for sure, what I was going to do in my life: filmmaking !

SHORT BIO OF THE DIRECTOR

Vice-President of Productions du 3 juin and Festival Director, Alessandro Cassa is a versatile creator whose works have been selected at various festivals in recent years, recognizing his creativity and sensitive approach. He is an author, chronicler and director and passionate about image and creation.  In 2006 and 2007 he represented Quebec at the Cannes Festival Short Film Corner, with two short films. He was decorated in 2013 with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for all his achievements in culture, literature and film. His most recent short film that was inspired by his youth series has been screened in 10 countries around the world where he has won several awards: ACARUS DUMDELL OU LA THÉORIE DE LA FICTION is in official selections at 21 international festivals: India, Great Britain, United States, France, Belgium, Italy, Romania and Spain. He hopes that the FICMAN/INSFF will offer the opportunity to highlight and showcase various auteur cinema productions throughout the world.

BANDE ANNONCE ANGLAIS : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh3epbkPo08

SITE FILMFREEWAY : https://filmfreeway.com/festival/FICMAN-INSFF

SITE FICMAN : www.ficman-insff.com

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*****

Interviewer Matthew Toffolo is currently the CEO of the WILDsound FEEDBACK Film & Writing Festival. The festival that showcases 20-50 screenplay and story readings performed by professional actors every month. And the FEEDBACK Monthly Festival held in downtown Toronto, and Los Angeles at least 2 times a month. Go to www.wildsound.ca for more information and to submit your work to the festival.

SUBMIT your TV PILOT Screenplay or TV SPEC Script
Voted #1 TV Contest in North America.		 Screenplay CONTESTSUBMIT your Short Screenplay or FEATURE Script
FULL FEEDBACK on all entries. Get your script performed