Academy Award Nominee, The Bigger Picture – Director / Writer / Animator Daisy Jacobs

Bigger Picture film poster 

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You want to put her in a home; you tell her; tell her now!’ hisses one brother to the other. But Mother won’t go, and their own lives unravel as she clings on. Innovative life-size animated characters tell the stark and darkly humorous tale of caring for an elderly parent. Daisy Jacobs is a British animation director, based in London. She studied at the National Film and Television School and at Central St Martins School of Art. The Bigger Picture is her MA graduation film. Previous films include Don Justino de oscars-posters-300x213Nevem (2011) and Tosh (2012). In her films, Daisy has moved from 2D hand-drawn animation to a hybrid of stop- motion and life-size painted animation. In The Bigger Picture, two-metre tall 2D and 3D painted characters interact with real sets. Director / writer / animator Jacobs stops by to talk about her unique and compelling animated masterpiece.

Awards:

2014 – Edinburgh International Film Festival, Innovation Award

2014 – Festival de Cannes (Cinefondation), Troisieme Prix,

2014 – Manchester KinoFilm Festival, Best Short Animation

2014 – Annecy Animation Festival, Cristal for a Graduation Film

2014 – Edinburgh International Film Festival, Innovation Award

2014 – Hiroshima Film Festival, Grand Prize, Oscar Qualifying

* Academy Award Winner – Animated Short Film, FEAST, Director Patrick Osborne

Feast film poster 

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FEAST is a new short from first-time director Patrick Osborne (Head of Animation, PAPERMAN) and Walt Disney Animation Studios, is the story of one man’s love life as seen through the eyes of his best friend and dog, Winston, and revealed bite by bite through the meals they share. Osborne is behind Walt Disney Animation Studios’ new short FEAST, taking the film from conception to completion. Osborne joined Disney as an animator on the 2008 feature film BOLT and went on to work on the PREP & LANDING movies andDisney’s 2010 hit TANGLED. Osborne served as Head of Animation for Disney’s’ OSCAR®-winning short PAPERMAN, and acted as Co-Head of Animation for the upcoming feature BIG HERO 6 prior to assuming full-time directing duties for FEAST. Prior to joining Disney, the Cincinnati, Ohio, native was lead oscars-posters-300x213character animator on THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE. He also worked as an animator on I AM LEGEND, SuRF’S uP and OPEN SEASON. Osborne, who earned a BFA with a focus in computer animation from Ringling College of Art and Design, got his start as a kid making movies with his brothers on their parents’ camcorder. His fascination with visual effects was elevated to a career goal when his dad gave him a book about the making of JURASSIC PARK. Director Osborne joins us to talk about Oscar nominated film and the challenges and rewards of having the final say on his own animated film.

Awards:

2015 Annie Awards Nomination

Audience Award Winner: 2014 Hamptons International Film Festival

The Duke of Burgundy, Director Peter Strickland

Duke of Burgundy posterSex, bondage, and butterflies: two women explore the extremes of carnal desire in this kinky, deliciously twisted tale of erotic obsession. In a crumbling European estate, butterfly researcher Cynthia (Sidse Babett Knudsen) and her lover Evelyn (Chiara D’Anna) repeatedly enact a sadomasochistic role-playing game, with Cynthia as the stern mistress and Evelyn her subservient sex slave. But as the lines between fantasy and reality begin to blur, and Cynthia grows increasingly uneasy with Evelyn’s insatiable appetite for punishment, their relationship is pushed to the limit. Dripping with dreamlike imagery, Gothic atmosphere, and a lush chamber pop score by Cat’s Eyes, this critically-acclaimed, darkly comic erotic fantasia is a seductive feast for the senses. THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY is the new film from Peter Strickland, the British award winning writer and director of Berberian Sound Studio and Katalin Vargar. Dripping with eroticism and dread,The Duke of Burgundy is a darkly decadent melodrama starring Sidse Babett Knudsen (Borgen, After the Wedding), and Chiara D’Anna (Berberian Sound Studio). Director / writer Strickland joins us to talk about his mesmerizing new film.

For news and updates for The Duke of Burgundy go to: The Duke of Burgundy

“Nothing if not a mood piece, but amid its atmospherics and winking asides, it’s also a fascinating portrait of a relationship.” – Sheri Linden, LA Times

“Leaves plenty to think about, but it’d be just as rewarding to turn off your mind and let the sounds and images wash over you like lapping waves.” – Matte Prigge, Metro

“At its core, this is one of the most incisive, penetrating, and empathetic films ever made about what it truly means to love another person, audaciously disguised as salacious midnight-movie fare.” – Mike D’Angelo, AV Club

“An act of cinephilic homage that transcends pastiche to become its own uniquely sensuous cinematic object …” – Scott Foundas, Variety

Beloved Sisters, Director Dominik Graf

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Beloved Sisters depicts the unconventional romance between two aristocratic sisters and a rebellious poet who took the European literary world by storm in the late eighteenth century.  As the German Enlightenment flourishes in Weimar, vibrant Caroline von Beulwitz (Hannah Herszsprung) finds herself in an unhappy marriage to provide for her mother and shy younger sister Charlotte von Lengefeld (Henriette Confurius).  When both sisters fall for outspoken writer Friedrich Schiller (Florian Stetter), their desire ignites a journey of shared passion and creativity.  Charlotte and Schiller marry so that the lovers may pursue their ménage à trois under the guise of convention, but as Caroline reveals herself to be a talented author in her own right, the trio’s fragile equilibrium is threatened and the sisters’ once unbreakable connection is irrevocably changed.   In this sweeping yet intimate romantic drama, which is also Germany’s official submission to the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, acclaimed director Dominik Graf illuminates the lives of two bold young women and one of classical literature’s most celebrated figures with charm and contemporary energy. Director Graf joins us to talk about his intimate, beautifully rendered film.

For news and updates on Beloved Sisters go to: musicboxfilms.com/beloved-sisters

“Enthralling and gorgeously mounted. An unusually intelligent costume drama of bold personalities torn between the stirrings of the heart and the logic of the mind.” – Scott Foundas, Variety

“Lush, riveting…a fascinating ménage a trois…a heady portrait of women who flout the strictures of their time to become agents of their own destiny.” – Erica Abeel, Huffington Post

“Think of it as Graf’s The Age of Innocence, a sumptuous phasing through the textures that entrap those unfit for times defined by emotional repression. See it when you most need it and this film might change your life.” – Scout Tafoya, RogerEbert.com

Academy Awards 2015 – Official Foreign Language Submission

Winner! Bavarian Film Awards 2014 – Best Cinematography, Michael Wiesweg

Berlin International Film Festival 2014 Golden Berlin Bear Nominee – Director, Dominik Graf

Match, Director Stephen Belber

Match film poster 

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Patrick Stewart gives a captivating performance in this witty, emotionally gripping adaptation of director Stephen Belber’s own Tony Award-nominated play. Stewart stars as Tobi, an eccentric, pot-smoking Manhattan ballet instructor whose quiet life is interrupted by the arrival of a young couple (Carla Gugino & Matthew Lillard) from Seattle, presumably there to interview him about his colorful life as a dancer in the 1960s. As Tobi spins salacious tales from his former career, an ulterior motive for the couple’s visit emerges, forcing the trio to confront a secret that may connect them all. Driven by Stewart’s tour-de-force performance, Match moves masterfully between razor-sharp comic banter and heartrending poignancy. Director Stephen Belber stops by Film School for a conversation on adapting his own play for the big screen.

For news and updates on Match go to: ifcfilms.com/films/match

“…this is Stewart’s show, and it’s a dynamite role for anyone, never mind the screen’s beloved Professor Xavier.” – The Playlist

“Stewart is given the role of a lifetime… a simply unforgettable performance. A must see.” – Pete Hammond, Deadline