December 14, 2017

25 Years of SXSW Film Festival – Sean Baker

To commemorate the 25th edition of the SXSW Film Festival, we continue our weekly alumni spotlight on careers launched, artists discovered, powerful performances, and more with filmmaker Sean Baker.

Baker’s directorial debut Four Letter Words premiered at SXSW in 2001. In 2012, he brought his drama Starlet starring Dree Hemingway which premiered in Narrative Feature Competition. Besedka Johnson won a special jury recognition for her performance. In 2015, Baker wrote and directed his fifth feature Tangerine, a breakout hit shot on an iPhone 5. Baker’s critically-acclaimed The Florida Project is currently playing in theaters and is being praised for Baker’s direction and performances by Willem Dafoe, and newcomer Brooklynn Prince. The film is on numerous “Top Ten Lists” with many nominations and awards this season.

We are honored to share his #SXSWFilm25 story with you.

“I might not have kept going if it wasn’t for SXSW. Four Letter Words was my first feature and getting into SXSW meant everything. The festival was my first champion and supporter – I don’t know if I would be here if not for them.”

Stay tuned to SXSW News for more 25th edition stories.

Join Us For SXSW 2018

Grab your Film Badge today for primary access to all SXSW Film events including world premieres, roundtables, workshops, and parties. Register to attend by Friday, January 12 and save. Book your hotel through SXSW Housing & Travel for the best available rates.

Stay tuned for the 2018 SXSW Film Festival lineup which will be announced in January.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and SXSW News for the latest SXSW coverage, announcements, and updates.

See you in March!

Dustin Finkelstein/WireImage

The post 25 Years of SXSW Film Festival – Sean Baker appeared first on SXSW.

Source: SxSW Film

December 10, 2017

Inside the ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ World Premiere: Hollywood Celebrates Rian Johnson’s Movie

Misdirection: Keep that in mind when you check out the eighth “Star Wars” installment, “The Last Jedi,” next weekend.

That’s what writer-director Rian Johnson does throughout this dense, careening, seemingly unstructured movie’s 2-hour, 32-minute running time. The movie is worth a second viewing, as it demands that you pay attention. Every little detail pays off.

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At the world premiere — the first-ever public screening — Saturday night at downtown L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall, security guards swept under every car, guests wore individual badges with seat assignments, carried their own smartphones in locked security bags to their seats, and kept their collectible “Last Jedi” popcorn buckets with them all night.

On crutches, veteran director and puppeteer Frank Oz headed into the auditorium to see the film for the first time. No one else gets to voice Yoda, he confirmed. As 2,200 guests at the Shrine watched red-carpet video of 25-year-old movie star John Boyega explaining how he almost didn’t make it out of snowbound Atlanta in time, director Jon Favreau (“Jungle Book,” “Lion King”) chatted with Edgar Wright and Jon Watts.

Seemingly the entire LA press corps and the extended Disney/Marvel/Lucasfilm/Pixar family were on hand, revved to see this movie, which was deemed so strong that Disney and Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy has already signed Johnson up for three more “Star Wars” installments.

Disney

Lining up on the Shrine stage were returning stars Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma), Lupita N’Yongo (Maz Kanata), Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux), and Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), as well as newcomers Andy Serkis (Supreme Leader Snoke), Laura Dern (Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo), Benicio del Toro (DJ), and Kelly Marie Tran (Rose Tico), who has built a rabid following ahead of anyone seeing the movie. The biggest applause of the night went to Anthony Daniels (Spoiler: both C-3PO and R2-D2 are back). Missing in action was Oscar Isaac (cocky fighter pilot Poe Dameron), who’s in France shooting Julian Schnabel’s Vincent Van Gogh movie “At Eternity’s Gate.”

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Johnson choked up as he dedicated the screening to the missing Carrie Fisher, whose role as Princess Leia in the movie is central, and was expected to be pivotal in the ninth “Star Wars” movie.

That was the subject of much speculation at the after-party that featured plenty of photo opportunities, blackjack tables, and wandering Storm Troopers (“May I take a picture?” “Affirmative!”). The reaction was largely positive (the movie is under review embargo until December 12), although some mentioned the long running time. Other hot topics: The movie is often funny (yes, the Porgs are used as comic relief), there’s a number of gorgeously designed new creatures, and a plot that not only deals with the balance of The Force but also power dynamics between men and women.

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Hanging anxiously just inside the entrance to the after party, Johnson admitted that the movie took a long time to write and featured “many moving pieces.” The filmmaker held court to such admirers as Ryan Coogler, whose Marvel entry “Black Panther” is up in February. He told me he had to get back to the editing room, but now has an even higher quality standard to meet. Gina Prince-Bythewood thanked Johnson for giving her some tips as she heads into her next assignment, Marvel’s “Silver Sable.”

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” opens on December 15.

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Source: IndieWire film

December 7, 2017

Meet the 2018 SXSW Wellness Expo Advisory Board

As part of the SXSW Wellness Expo, we’re honored to present our 2018 Wellness Expo Advisory Board who will help ensure that SXSW is bringing the most reputable companies, ideas, and trends to the exhibition.

Our mission is to showcase all that holistic living has to offer. From mental and physical fitness, to alternative healing, clean eating, and spiritual exploration, our esteemed Advisory Board members represent the best in these fields.

Read on for bios of advisory board members and make sure to mark your calendars! The SXSW Wellness Expo happens March 10-11 at the Palmer Events Center and will be open to SXSW attendees as well as the general public.

Lauren Ash

Lauren Ash is a visionary credited for centering black women in wellness. As founder of Black Girl In Om, she promotes self-love for women of color through BGIO’s online publication, podcast, creative agency, and social media platforms. Nike, Well+Good, Shape, Girlboss, NYLON, and ESSENCE recognize Lauren as an industry trailblazer.

Kelly Brogan, MD

Kelly Brogan, M.D. is a Manhattan-based holistic women’s health psychiatrist, author of the International and New York Times bestselling book, A Mind of Your Own, and co-editor of the landmark textbook, Integrative Therapies for Depression. She is board certified in psychiatry, psychosomatic medicine, and integrative holistic medicine, serves as Medical Director for Fearless Parent, and is a founding member of Health Freedom Action.

Toni Carey

Toni Carey’s passion for health and fitness led to the co-creation of Black Girls RUN!, a grassroots organization that encourages and inspires African-American women to live a healthy and active lifestyle.She is currently the Senior Manager of Marketing and Communications at a non-profit located in Washington, D.C. while she pursues her next entrepreneurial venture Keeping Balanced, an online platform that explores the true meaning of work/life balance, while helping women reclaim their time, health and sanity.

Daphne Cheng

Daphne Cheng is the founder/CEO of Superhuman, a food media e-commerce platform aiming to change the way China’s 1.4 billion populations eats and lives. Cheng is a pioneer in plant-based cuisine, focusing on making vegetables as delicious as possible. Superhuman’s approach uses psychology and behavioral economics principles to make it easy, fun, and appealing for people to change their unhealthy behaviors.

davidji

davidji is a globally recognized mindbody health & wellness expert, mindful performance trainer, meditation teacher & author, credited with creating the 21-day meditation process which spawned hundreds of 21-day meditation experiences & challenges around the world.

Derek Flanzraich

Derek Flanzraich is an entrepreneur on a mission to give everyone a healthyish attitude. He is the CEO & Founder of Greatist, a next-generation media startup working to make healthy living cool and build the first truly trusted consumer-facing healthy living brand for this generation. Greatist reaches 10-15 million unique visitors per month. Flanzraich graduated from Harvard, and has been building brands and organizations since founding a dog-walking business at 10 years old.

Tiffany Kieran

Tiffany Kieran’s passion and expertise is in film production and the planning and organization of film, art, music events and fundraisers aimed at raising awareness of social causes.

She has served on the PR and Advisory Council for the International Rescue Committee, worked as a City Leader for Call + Response and Free the Slaves and led yoga and wellness outreach programs for shelters and organizations.

Kyle Kingsbury

Kyle is a lifelong athlete who played Division 1 football at Arizona State and fought professionally in the Ultimate Fighting Championship for 6 years. As Director of Human Optimization at Onnit, Kyle is committed to understanding the ways we can better our lives physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Alyssa Malehorn

Alyssa Malehorn is a spiritual teacher. Her work includes support and education in the healing arts and meditation along with the Raw Spirituality podcast.

Coss Marte

Coss Marte is the founder of ConBody, a prison-style bootcamp which hires formerly incarcerated individuals to teach fitness classes. After being sent to prison in 2009, Marte developed exercise techniques using simple movements and his own body weight to combat his own obesity, which he shared with other inmates and now with the general public.

Adriene Mishler

Adriene Mishler is an actress, yoga teacher and entrepreneur from Austin, Texas.. Her Youtube channel Yoga With Adriene provides high quality practices on yoga and mindfulness at no cost to inspire people of all ages, shapes and sizes across the globe. Drawing on a background in professional theatre, Adriene also works in television, voiceover, film and dance and is a regular contributor for magazines and blogs.

Reid Tracy

Reid Tracy is the president and CEO of Hay House, Inc. He has also produced more than 12 successful PBS Specials, raising more than $100 million for public television.

Shawn Ullman

Shawn Ullman is the co-founder and CEO of Feel Rich, the market leader in delivery branded celebrity health and wellness content, influencers, products, and live events. The network has a reach of over 300 million followers, delivering groundbreaking celebrity content in social media and live events.

The post Meet the 2018 SXSW Wellness Expo Advisory Board appeared first on SXSW.

Source: SxSW Film

December 7, 2017

The Unedited StoryCorps Interview: Nia C. Mathis & Cavril P. Williams

Did you know that the stories you hear from us on NPR and our podcast are excerpts of interviews pulled from the StoryCorps Archive? Participants visit one of our recording locations with a friend or family member to record a 40-minute interview with the help of a trained StoryCorps Facilitator, or record a conversation using the StoryCorps App. We’re sharing this unedited interview from the StoryCorps Archive with you in its original form.

In May 2009, Cavril Payne Williams shared stories with her granddaughter, Nia Cavril Mathis, about traveling and entertaining members of the United States Armed Forces on the USO Tour, her musical family, and meeting her husband at the beach. Their interview was recorded in partnership with the Hebrew Home at Riverdale in Riverdale, New York.

“We were a family of music,” Cavril says, as she remembers the piano, dancing and singing lessons she had growing up. She tells Nia about how her brother, Cecil Payne, was discovered by Dizzy Gillespie, who told him, “’You don’t look right playing that little sax’ — he had an alto sax — and Dizzy said, ‘You should play the baritone; you’re big enough!’”

Cavril talks about traveling around the world with the USO tour, with her singing group, the Three Bon Bunnies. “I thought I was hot todoodie!,” she giggles.

Nia asks what it was like traveling in the 1940s as black women. “Some of them were surprised to see that we were a black group,” Cavril says. “Before we got there, they knew about us. And then when they saw our color!” She laughs, “It wasn’t easy. They looked at us and said, “‘I don’t want no’ — whatever they called us then, and the manager that we had said, ‘You get this or you get nothing!’”

After singing with The Three Bon Bunnies, her father told her, “’Don’t you think it’s time to settle down? You go to church, you meet a nice man!’” Instead of church, though, Cavril went to the beach, where she met a handsome lifeguard. She told him, “’My mother and father don’t want me to travel anymore; they feel that I should settle down and get married — hint hint hint hint!’” Cavril and Nia laugh as she recounts her wedding day. “My gown was ice blue, because I was naughty before I was walking down the aisle — I couldn’t go down with ice white!”

All StoryCorps Griot interviews are shared with the National Museum of African American History and Culture. To hear more unedited interviews from the StoryCorps Archive, please make an appointment at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

All material within the StoryCorps collection is copyrighted by StoryCorps. StoryCorps encourages use of material on this site by educators and students without prior permission, provided appropriate credit is given. This interview has not been fact-checked, and may contain sensitive personal information about living persons.

Source: SNPR Story Corps

December 7, 2017

25 Years of SXSW Film Festival – Kat Candler, Sarah-Violet Bliss & Charles Rogers, Trey Shults

To commemorate the 25th edition of the SXSW Film Festival, we continue our weekly alumni spotlight on careers launched, artists discovered, powerful performances, and more with filmmakers Kat Candler, Sarah-Violet Bliss & Charles Rogers, and Trey Shults.

Kat Candler

Candler has had numerous films screen at the SXSW Film Festival including Jumping off Bridges (world premiere,
2006), Hellion (2012), Black Metal (2013), and the feature-length Hellion in 2014. Currently, Candler directs and produces episodes of the critically acclaimed tv series, Queen Sugar, created by 2015 SXSW Film Keynote, Ava DuVernay.

“I love SXSW because it fosters gorgeous collaboration among a community of wickedly talented artists.”

Sarah-Violet Bliss & Charles Rogers

Bliss and Rogers presented the world premiere of their film Fort Tilden in 2014 where it won the Jury Award for Narrative Feature Competition. The pair next co-created the dark comedy Search Party with Michael Showalter which premiered at SXSW in 2016. The second season of Search Party is currently airing on TBS.

“SXSW changed our lives by legitimizing us as filmmakers and giving us the confidence to continue with our creative lives. The festival essentially helped us launch our careers and made our dreams come true. The programming is varied and takes risks. It helps launch the careers of unknown filmmakers and the parties are flirtatious.

I’ll never forget how our hearts beating at a rapid pace for two hours straight while we sat through the awards ceremony holding hands with the creative team of Fort Tilden, anxiously awaiting the results and dripping sweat onto each other.”

Trey Shults

Shults world premiered his narrative short Krisha at SXSW 2014 where it won the Special Jury Award for Cinematography. In 2015, he debuted his feature of the same name, where it received both the Jury and Audience Award for Narrative Feature. For his direction, Shults received Best Directorial debut from the National Board of Review and the Bingham Ray Gotham Award for Breakthrough Director. His latest film, the psychological thriller, It Comes At Night was released earlier this year.

“I will never forget the week we played Krisha at SXSW. It was surreal, humbling, and unforgettable. SXSW gave me a huge platform to present my small film and it changed my life.”

Stay tuned to SXSW News each week for more 25th edition stories.

Join Us For SXSW 2018

Grab your Film Badge today for primary access to all SXSW Film events including world premieres, roundtables, workshops, and parties. Register to attend by Friday, January 12 and save. Book your hotel through SXSW Housing & Travel for the best available rates.

Stay tuned for the 2018 SXSW Film Festival lineup which will be announced in January.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and SXSW News for the latest SXSW coverage, announcements, and updates.

See you in March!

Screening of Hellion -Photo by Chris Saucedo
Wolrd Premiere of Fort Tilden – Photo by Andy Pareti/Getty Images for SXSW
World Premiere of Krisha – Photo by Waytao Shing/Getty Images for SXSW

The post 25 Years of SXSW Film Festival – Kat Candler, Sarah-Violet Bliss & Charles Rogers, Trey Shults appeared first on SXSW.

Source: SxSW Film