Filmmaker Profiles
Three Asheville Film Festival Films Receive Academy Nods
Two feature films and a documentary showcased at the 5th Annual Asheville Film Festival this past November have been nominated for numerous awards by the Academy of Motion Pictures and Arts.
”The Savages”, ”The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”, and ”War/Dance” have all been tapped for Oscars in various categories for 2007.
Click here to download the press release.
Film Submission Information will be available on April 1, 2008.
And the Winners are…
Last night, the 2007 Asheville FIlm Festival announced its winners for this year. They include winners, runners-up and audience favorites in the feature, documentary, short, student and animation categories, as well as the Daniel Delavergne award, which honors films for a sense of adventure, and the ETV Southern Lens Award, going to a film that captures Southern culture
The winners are as follows:
Feature:
Winner - Year of the Fish
Runner-up - (tie) Blood Car, Randy and the Mob
Audience Award - Year of the Fish
Documentary:
Winner - War/Dance
Runner-up - Behind Forgotten Eyes
Audience Award - War/Dance
Short:
Winner - Cabbie
Runner-up - Kilroy Was Here
Audience Award - Jonna’s Body, Please Hold
Student:
Winner - The Little Gorilla
Runner-up - Rebel Song
Audience Award - The Little Gorilla
Animation:
Winner - When the World Goes Dark
Runner-up - Glimpse
Audience Award - Glimpse
Daniel Delavergne Spirit Award:
The Oil and Water Project
ETV Southern Lens Award:
Moving Midway
Second chance to catch Blood Car Sunday!
The organizers of the Asheville Film Festival have announced that there will be a second “buzz” showing of the sold-out film Blood Car on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in Diana Wortham Theatre. Get tickets here.
Blood Car saw its North Carolina Premiere on Friday, and sold out quickly. It drew enough word of mouth that festival organizers gave it a “buzz spot” for a second showing. Director Alex Orr will also be on hand to take audience questions following the movie.
The other “buzz” movie, a noon showing of legendary director Sidney Lumet’s Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, has sold out.
— David Forbes, staff writer
A second chance to catch “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead”
***UPDATE: 2:11 P.M. SATURDAY—THE SECOND “BUZZ” SHOWING OF ‘BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD” HAS SOLD OUT. *** Festival organizers announced a second showing of buzz film, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead after the first showing sold out this past weekend. The second screening will be Sunday, November 11 at Noon at Diana Wortham Theatre. Tickets are now available at the festival box office in Pack Place or online or at 828-257-4500.
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead is being hailed as a comeback for acclaimed director, Sidney Lumet, and is already garnering pre-Oscar buzz among film critics. The film stars Academy Award winners Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Marisa Tomei in a robbery that goes all wrong.
Festival Guide hits the stands!
The official festival guide is out on the stands right now! Pick up a copy of the latest issue of the Mountain Xpress in one of many locations around the area to find everything out about the film festival, the movies, the galas and events that you ever wanted to know!
Horror comes to the Asheville Film Festival!
For those of you whose love of good horror flicks (or good movies period) doesn’t end at Halloween, the 2007 Asheville Film Festival has some of today’s most innovative independent horror movies coming your way.
In Alex Orr’s Blood Car, set in the near future, gas prices reach an all-time high, nearing almost $40 a gallon. Archie Andrews, an environmentalist and vegan schoolteacher, is determined to find an alternate fuel source. While experimenting with various wheat-grass concoctions, he accidentally stumbles upon a solution. Blood. Human blood. Archie soon becomes the only person driving a car and attracts the attention of a sex slut named Denise. Unable to turn down her advances, Archie becomes attached to her—and the only way to keep her is to keep the car running.
Blood Car, which will see its North Carolina premiere at the festival, has drawn quite a buzz. It was selected as the closing night film at the Atlanta Underground festival, was in the top 3 on Myspace Movies for some time and was also featured on Ain’t It Cool News. It’s won awards at festivals around the country, including Cinequest, Chicago Underground and Atlanta Horror.
Jeremy Saulnier’s Murder Party is set on Halloween night in Brooklyn. A random windblown invitation leads a lonesome stranger into the hands of a deranged artist’s collective intent on murdering him for the sake of their art. What follows is a gonzo night of mishap, mayhem and hilarity.
Murder Party was touted as “downright f**king hilarious” by Ain’t It Cool News and won the Audience Award at Slamdance and the Best Feature award at the Vail Film Festival.
Seeing it’s U.S. premiere is Charlotte filmmaker Mark Young’s Southern Gothic. A drama/horror set in the South, Southern Gothic chronicles a man who must atone for a tragic mistake by saving a little girl from a band of ruthless, undead killers. This genre-blurring film defies convention by blending art house and slaughterhouse.
Tickets for any of these films are available here
Galas and parties!
The Asheville Film Festival isn’t just a time to see great movies, it’s also a time for parties and galas, and this year is no exception.
The fun starts Thursday (Nov. 8) night, with the festival kick-off, complete with the critically acclaimed film The Savages. Following the film, ticket holders will adjourn to the lobby and outside atrium of Pack Place for spectacular food provided by Amici, beer and wine. Tickets for this event can be purchased here.
On Friday, there will be an evening with this year’s Career Achievement Award winner, Tess Harper. A special screening of Tender Mercies, which marked the beginning of Ms. Harper’s career with a Golden Globe nomination, will be held at the Fine Arts Theater. It will be followed by a Q&A with Ms. Harper and a reception at Blue Spiral 1. Tickets for this event can be purchased here.
Saturday evening will see the festival’s big event, as the winners are announced and the awards presented at a cocktail reception and exciting awards ceremony. Tickets for this event can be purchased here.
The festival will end on a high-note with a showing of the award-winning film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly followed by a reception with beer, wine and appetizers provided by Amici. Tickets for this event can be purchased here.
More information about any of these parites can be found in our list of events.
Ubuntu
there will also be a special screening of this film Saturday, 10:30 p.m.- Midnight at the Asheville Community Theatre
A mini-doc about the Soweta Kliptown Youth Organization (SKY) located in an impoverished area of Johannesburg, South Africa. Started by Bob Maneng in 1987, SKY is an after school program where children can utilize the arts as educational therapy. Ubuntu is a belief that through others, you become a better person. Despite seemingly impossible situations, SKY gives children the confidence that they will achieve their dreams.
The Oil and Water Project
there will also be a special screening of this film Saturday, 10:30 p.m.- Midnight at the Asheville Community Theatre
Two kayakers, Seth Warren and Tyler Bradt, set out to complete the Oil and Water Project by driving a Japanese fire truck 34,000 kilometers from Alaska to Argentina without a single drop of petroleum. Instead, they used waste grease from fast-food restaurants, along with pig, fish, canola, soy and palm oils. On their way from river to beach to mountains, they visited schools, conducted demonstrations and collaborated with local governments to raise awareness for alternative energy. And they chased summer the whole way, surfing and kayaking in some of the best spots in the Americas.
“Golden Blade III’s” kung fu is the strongest there is!
The Asheville Film Festival is pleased to announced that “Golden Blade III: Return of the Monkey’s Uncle,” has just won “Best Local Film of the Year” honors in the Mountain Xpress’ annual Best of WNC section. And you can see its mighty kung fu for yourself Friday, Nov. 9 at the Asheville Film Festival!
A roaring kung-fu spoof from Asheville’s own auteur T.J. Wiedow, “Golden Blade III” pays homage to the “classic” kung fu films, when cheap video games and bad movie effects were still awesome and fun, “Golden Blade III” features a magic sword, ridiculous eyebrows, the classic market fight scene and out-of-sync voice dubbing. And that’s before the cyborg and the monkey show up.
More information about “Golden Blade III,” including its prequel and scenes from the movie, can be found at its official website. It will play at the festival on Friday, Nov. 9 at the Asheville Community Theatre from 11:15 p.m. - 1 a.m. Tickets are on sale now. Click the comments section below to see the trailer.
More filmmaker profiles for 2007 will be announced as the prescreening process continues.
Keep an eye on current news for announcements.