Sophie Okonedo as the black daughter of white parents in Skin.
Winner of four audience awards, including at the AFI Dallas and Santa Barbara film festivals, Skin tells the factually inspired (and quite curious) story of Sandra Laing (Hotel Rwanda’s 2005 Academy Award nominee Sophie Okonedo as an adult; Ella Ramangwane as child), the “black” daughter of “white” Afrikaner parents (veterans Sam Neill and Alice Krige), who until then – South Africa in the 1950s – had been unaware that they must have had some black ancestors.
Though raised as a white girl by her parents, Sandra soon discovers the importance of her skin color after she’s officially reclassified as black and is expelled from her school. Her parents then fight a judicial battle to have their daughter regain her “whiteness” – and all the privileges that come with it – taking the case all the way to the Supreme Court.
Sandra becomes officially “white” once again – but her skin hasn’t changed colors. Racism continues to be an issue for her. Compounding matters, she falls in love with a black vegetable seller (Tony Kgoroge), which leads to serious family conflicts.
Written by Helen Crawley, Jessie Keyt, and Helena Kriel, Skin is the feature-film debut of UCLA’s Film and Television School grad Anthony Fabian. In The Hollywood Reporter, Michael Rechtshaffen says it “serves as a stirring allegory for birthright and the assertion of one’s identity in the face of oppression … the fact that it’s actually based on a true story adds an extra layer of poignancy, heightened further by another superb Sophie Okonedo performance.”
Skin opens in New York City (Landmark’s Sunshine Theatre; Beekman Theatre) and Los Angeles (The Landmark in West LA; Laemmle Town & Country in Encino; Laemmle 7 in Pasadena) on Friday, Oct. 30.
IFC Festival Direct to present A French Gigolo
Next month, IFC Films (website) will be releasing via its video-on-demand platform the French box office hit A French Gigolo / Cliente, starring veteran Nathalie Baye, on November 4, and Canada’s submission for the 2009 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, The Necessities of Life, on Nov. 11. These films are part of the “IFC Festival Direct” program, an electronic film festival available “at the touch of a remote control button.” Each month, viewers can choose from six new films that have premiered at major film festivals from around the world.
The film information below is the the IFC press release:
A French Gigolo, the French box office hit, continues the long tradition of exploring female desire and sexuality with sharp wit and insight. The film caused much discussion in France for its frank depiction of female sexuality in a country that’s never been shy on the matter. Directed, written and costarring Josiane Balasko (French Twist), the film stars Nathalie Baye (Venus Beauty Institute, Tell No One) and Eric Caravaca (Monsieur Ibrahim) and premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Baye stars as an elegant and mature TV personality who believes she’s found a way to have a satisfying sexual life amidst her chaotic professional life: instead of messy relationships, she opts instead for straightforward sexual servicing through a series of male escorts she chooses on the internet. Her sister Irene (Balasko) and next-door neighbor couldn’t disagree more, but Judith is adamant this laissez-faire arrangement works. And it does work for her until unconventional and handsome escort Patrick (Eric Caravaca) enters her life.
As their arrangement escalates, Judith’s frozen emotional state begins to thaw, but all is thrown into chaos when Patrick’s wife discovers that his days are not spent on a construction site. A French Gigolo is a classy, thoroughly enjoyable film with terrific performances. Lisa Nesselson of Screen International called it “engaging and intelligent with a classy, nuanced performances.”
The Necessities of Life, is a profound story of culture shock and barrier-transcending human connections starring Natar Ungalaaq from Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner. Shortlisted for a 2008 Academy Award as Canada’s official Oscar entry for Best Foreign Language Film, The Necessities of Life premiered in August of last year at the Montreal World Film Festival where it received numerous awards including the Grand Jury Prize.
From the acclaimed Canadian filmmaker and renowned documentarian Benoît Pilon, Necessities of Life is a heartwarming and life-affirming drama about Tivii (Ungalaaq) an ailing Inuit hunter diagnosed with tuberculosis by Canadian authorities and forcibly removed from his family and quarantined in a Quebec City sanitarium. For Tivii, everything seems alien and he slides into a deep depression as he realizes his treatment might last up to two years, until finding hope again when he forges an unlikely friendship with a young boy.
Sylvain Verstricht from indieWIRE said “The Necessities of Life is a touching film with great performances from its two lead actors.” Daniel Harvey from Variety called the film “a model of delicate emotional restraint.”
A French Gigolo and The Necessities of Life will be available for three months on demand.
Nominations for 2010 Golden Globe Awards will be announced at 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 15.
Team Qatar by Liz Mermin (top); Hiam Abbass in Najwa Najjar’s Pomegranates and Myrrh (bottom)
Doha Tribeca Film Festival Awards
Doha Tribeca Film Festival Executive Director Amanda Palmer and Robert De Niro handed out two audience awards, worth US$50,000 each, at the festival’s closing night gala on Nov. 1. Coincidentally, both winning films were directed by women.
British filmmaker Liz Mermin’s documentary Team Qatar, which chronicles the creation of that country’s first debate team, was awarded Best Festival Film, while Palestinian Najwa Najjar’s debut feature, Pomegranates and Myrrh (talk about a poetic title), was chosen the Best Arab Film.
Starring Hiam Abbass (who deserves a best actress Oscar nod for Lemon Tree), Pomegranates and Myrrh revolves around a Palestinian woman torn between being faithful to her husband (Ashraf Farah), a prisoner of Israel’s occupying forces, and her attraction to her folk dance trainer (Ali Suliman of both Paradise Now and Lemon Tree).
Another female filmmaker, Sophia Al Maria, received the prize for Best 1 Minute Film: The Racer.
“There is a potential market for Arabic films and this award motivates filmmakers to make films in Arabic or with Arabic subject matter, with a universal appeal,” remarked DTTF Community Outreach Programmer Scandar Copti, whose Ajami, which he co-directed with Yaron Shani, recently won the Israeli Academy’s best feature film Ophir Award and is Israel’s submission for the 2010 best foreign language film Academy Award.
The first Doha Tribeca Film Festival ran Oct 29-Nov. 1. Thirty-one films were in competition for the top prizes.
Photos: Shourq Harb (Pomegranates and Myrrh), Adrian Haddad (Team Qatar). Courtesy of the Doha Tribeca Film Festival.
Screamfest LA winners
2009 Screamfest LA: Oct. 16–25 in Hollywood
In Tom Six’s The Human Centipede (First Sequence), a German surgeon (Dieter Laser) sets out to merge together three human beings into one by joining them with a single digestive system. To achieve his goal, he conscripts two American girls (Ashley C. Williams, Ashlynn Yennie) looking for shelter and a Japanese tourist (Akihiro Kitamura) who happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence), involving a 12-human centipede, is slated for release in 2010.
Best Picture: The Human Centipede (First Sequence), Tom Six
Best Director: F. Javier Gutiérrez, Tres días / Before the Fall
Best Actor: Victor Clavijo, Before the Fall
Best Actress: Joceline Donahue, House of the Devil
Best Screenplay: Hate Night, VJ Boyd & Justin Boyd
Best Cinematography: Before the Fall, Miguel A. Mora
Best Musical Score: The House of the Devil, Jeff Grace
Best Film Editing: Before the Fall, Nacho Ruiz Capillas
Best Special Effects: The Revenant
Best Makeup: The Revenant
Best Short: Prelude to Hell, Harry Doright
Best Student Short: Else, Thibaut Emin
Via DreadCentral.com.
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