Academy Award Nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo Joins Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon, Christian Bale, Angela Sarafyan, Daniel Giminez Cacho and Marwan Kenzari in ‘The Promise’

Film to be lensed by acclaimed cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe

Survival Pictures announced that Academy Award nominated and Emmy winning actress Shohreh Aghdashloo (Septembers Of Shiraz, X-Men, House of Sand and Fog) has joined the cast in The Promise, the epic love story directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker Terry George otel Rwanda, Reservation Road, The Shore). Additionally, acclaimed cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe (Blue Jasmine, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Others) has joined George’s production team. 

As previously announced, the cast includes Golden Globe nominee, Oscar Isaac (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ex Machina, A Most Violent Year), Charlotte Le Bon (The Walk, The Hundred-Foot Journey, Yves Saint Laurent), Academy Award winner Christian Bale (The Fighter, American Hustle, The Dark Knight), Angela Sarafyan (The Immigrant, Paranoia), Daniel Giminez Cacho (Y Tu Mamá También,Bad Education, Snow White) and Marwan Kenzari (Autobahn, Ben-Hur). 

Set during the last days of the Ottoman Empire, The Promise follows a love triangle between Michael (Isaac), a brilliant student, the beautiful and sophisticated Ana (Le Bon), and Chris (Bale)—a renowned American journalist based in Paris. 

The script was written by award-winning writer Terry George and Academy Award nominee Robin Swicord (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Memoirs of a Geisha).

“We have assembled a stellar cast to make this epic love story,” says George.“Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac are now joined by the beautiful and talented actress Shohreh Aghdashloo, and an international cast including Charlotte Le Bon, Angela Sarafyan, Daniel Giminez Cacho and Marwan Kenzari. The actors and I relish the challenge of bringing this sweeping love story to the screen."

Eric Esrailian will produce on behalf of Survival Pictures and the film will also be produced by Mike Medavoy for Phoenix Pictures (Black Swan, Shutter Island, Zodiac, The Thin RedLine), Ralph Winter (X-Men, Fantastic Four, The Giver) and William Horberg (Milk, Cold Mountain, The Talented Mr. Ripley). Production is slated to start this fall in Southern Europe.

Aghdashloo is represented by Peter Levine at CAA and managed by Tamara Houston at Round Table Entertainment. Aguirresarobe is represented by Michael Lewis & Associates.

FSLC announces PRINT SCREEN event with The Mountain Goats's John Darnielle, book signing of WOLF IN WHITE VAN & screening of MEDEA

The Mountain Goats frontman John Darnielle to discuss debut novel, Wolf in White Van, and present restored 35mm print of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Medea on August 31

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Additional author spotlights to include James Hannaham (October), Susan Howe (November) & Garth Risk Hallberg (December)

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The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced additional Print Screen events, which are geared toward bridging the worlds of cinema and literature. Film Society’s newest recurring series invites notable authors to present films that complement and have inspired their work. On the occasion of the paperback release of his debut novel, Wolf in White Van (September 1 from Picador), The Mountain Goats frontman and indie-rock icon John Darnielle joins us to introduce a screening of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Medea, followed by a discussion and book signing on August 31. 

Upcoming Print Screen events include authors James Hannaham (October 29), Susan Howe (November 24), and Garth Risk Hallberg (December 10). Full details on these events and film pairings will be announced at a later date. The Print Screen series is organized by Rachael Rakes and Dennis Lim. 

John Darnielle Print Screen tickets will go on sale Thursday, August 13 and are $18; $13 for members, students, and seniors (62+). Visit filmlinc.org for more information.

Discussion with John Darnielle & screening of Medea

“Wolf in White Van is a novel that unspools rather than reads. Told in a tricky, deftly structured reverse chronology, the narrator, Sean Phillips, backtracks to a traumatic teenaged event . . . Darnielle has a masterful way of putting the reader in the position of reverse engineer. . . [His] is an art that spins pain into gold."—Emily M. Keeler, The Hairpin

“It’s a gripping and strange read that defies all genre expectations and captures a world that very few of us know about but that feels very real.”—John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars, in Rolling Stone

John Darnielle is a writer, composer, guitarist, and vocalist for the band The Mountain Goats and is widely considered one of the best lyricists of his generation, crafting “songs that read like stories” (NPR) about society’s marginalized and underdogs—undercard boxers, meth addicts, teens who form death-metal bands. He took the name The Mountain Goats from a line in “Yellow Coat,” a Screamin’ Jay Hawkins song. While working toward an English degree at Pitzer College in 1991, a local label released Taboo VI: The Homecoming—10 initial songs, sung by Darnielle including a cover of “This Magic Moment.” Eventually pairing with others to form the indie-rock band The Mountain Goats, their 2002 first studio concept album Tallahassee was released to critical acclaim by British label 4AD (Pixies, Throwing Muses, Modern English) and centers on an embittered husband and wife who move from Southern California to Florida. The band has released multiple albums and over 500 songs, many written by Darnielle. After writing for his own blog, Last Plane to Jakarta, and publishing a book on Black Sabbath’s Master of Reality as part of the 33 1/3 series about classic albums, he penned Wolf in White Van. The novel takes place in a “tortured-adolescent head-space” (Rolling Stone) and centers on a man who is disfigured during his days as a heavy-metal loving teen. The book was nominated for the 2014 National Book Award. Darnielle lives in Durham, North Carolina, with his family. 

Medea
Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italy/France/West Germany, 1969, 35mm, 110m
Italian with English subtitles
Starring the legendary Maria Callas, Pasolini’s interpretation of Euripides’s play shifts the tragedy away from Medea’s betrayal by Jason and her bloody revenge to the loss of her mystical homeland of Colchis. Through poetic, desirous explorations of landscape and ritual, traditional North African music, and sparse dialogue, Pasolini shapes a biting Marxist allegory for Western nations’ menacing influence on the Third World. Glorious to witness for Callas’s performance and the superb costuming, Medea deserves repeated viewings on the big screen. Restored 35mm print from Instituto Luce Cinecittà. Restoration by S.N.C. Presentation of the film in its original 35mm format made possible by Gucci.
Monday, August 31, 7:00pm (Q&A with John Darnielle) at Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center (144 West 65th Street)

“The Greek and Roman tragedians had a profound and lasting effect on me when I immersed myself in them back in college—everything I write articulates at some point with strategies and visions found in those ancient poems. One interesting thing about ancient tragedy is that its threads lead in so many directions—from Renaissance reimaginings to crypto-tragic texts like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre to the syncretic masterpiece The Gospel at Colonus. Pasolini tried his hand at Greek tragedy twice: first Sophocles (Oedipus Rex [1967]), then Euripides (Medea, [1969]). It's not surprising that a lifelong maverick like Pasolini would be drawn to Euripides, whose plays speak so directly to the modern heart. Medea, which contains Maria Callas’s only dramatic role on film, hauls Euripides from the corridors of the academy into the stark, violent world of celluloid. There are few film treatments of ancient tragedy as hell-bent on getting the tone right as this one: the light, the scene, the horror. The film's final frames, once viewed, linger in the mind for a long, long time. It's my pleasure to host a screening of this sometimes-imperfect but genuinely remarkable film.”—John Darnielle

For more information, visit www.filmlinc.org

Salad Days: A Decade of Punk in Washington, DC (1980-90)

Scott Crawford and Jim Saah's Salad Days: A Decade of Punk In Washington, DC (1980-90) has been selling out screenings in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, Chicago, and more. The documentary film that examines the early DIY punk scene in the Nation's Capital. It was a decade when seminal bands like Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Government Issue, Scream, Void, Faith, Rites of Spring, Marginal Man, Fugazi, and others released their own records and booked their own shows-without major record label constraints or mainstream media scrutiny.

Contextually, it was a cultural watershed that predated the alternative music explosion of the 1990s (and the industry's subsequent implosion). Thirty years later, DC's original DIY punk spirit serves as a reminder of the hopefulness of youth, the power of community and the strength of conviction.

Director/writer Scott Crawford is a music journalist, musician, and graphic designer. As a teenager in the DC suburbs, he started a fanzine called Metrozine that documented much of what was happening in the DC hardcore punk scene in the 1980s.

"The DC punk music scene that I grew up with in the 1980s has always been a big part of who I am," says Scott. "I interviewed a lot of these bands for the first time over 30 years ago while doing a fanzine. Approaching them all again decades later offered a type of perspective and reflection that I wanted to capture in a film."

Crawford was also quoted in both Dance of Days and Banned in DC - the two most definitive books on the early DC punk scene. In 2001, he launched Harp Magazine and served as its Editor-in-Chief for over seven years. Crawford also launched the online music portal Blurt in 2009.

Serving as Director of Photography, Saah is a native of Washington, DC who has worked professionally in photography and video for over 25 years. He has shot for a variety of publications and websites ranging from the Washington Post to Rolling Stone. He's also an experienced videographer whose credits range from union organizing films to music documentaries. Recent films he has worked on include movies about the bands Wilco, Death Cab for Cutie, and Eddie Vedder.

On a side note, OBEY and Shepard Fairey were heavily influenced by the DC hardcore scene. Shepard has used numerous DC hardcore legends such as Ian Mackaye of Minor Threat and Fugazi, Henry Rollins of State of Alert and Black Flag, and Bad Brains in his artwork. When hearing that Crawford and Saah were planning a West Coast release of their film, OBEY wanted to get involved. They created this T-shirt which is on sale now (along with other cool Salad Days merchandise) HERE.

Quick Facts:
* Salad Days reached its Kickstarter goal in 6 days.
* Features never-before-seen photographs and performance footage of dozens of DC punk bands.
* Interviews with Ian MacKaye, Henry Rollins, John Stabb, Thurston Moore, Dave Grohl, and others
* Original score by guitarist Michael Hampton (SOA, Faith, Embrace, One Last Wish)

* Coming to DVD on September 18th, streaming now on Vimeo

*The critically acclaimed documentary chronicling the rise of punk rock in Washington, DC

* Check out an exclusive clip at IndieWire and the trailer below

DVD Pre-Order: http://bit.ly/1T3e709

Blu-ray Pre-order: http://bit.ly/1INahXL

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1faxxTO

Tribeca Film Festival announces 2016 dates and call for submissions

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL, PRESENTED BY AT&T, ANNOUNCES CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS AND 2016 DATES, APRIL 13 – APRIL 24 

The Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), presented by AT&T, will hold its 15th edition on April 13– April 24, 2016 in New York City. Today the Festival announced a call for submissions for narrative and documentary features, short films, and exhibits in interactive storytelling. Returning for the second year is Tribeca Film Festival at Spring Studios, the Festival’s creative hub and destination for festivalgoers, industry and press where innovation events, select Tribeca Talks® panels, Awards night, parties, and more will take place.

TFF continues to encourage women filmmakers through The Nora Ephron Prize, sponsored by Coach. For the third year, the $25,000 award will recognize a female filmmaker whose work embodies the spirit and vision of the legendary filmmaker and writer Nora Ephron.

For the past 14 years, TFF has provided a platform for original storytelling, creative expression, and immersive entertainment. The Festival supports and celebrates both American independent voices and established directors from around the world, and hosts screenings of feature and short length films, curated conversations, and master classes for industry and the cultural community. The 2016 Festival will continue to explore the intersection of storytelling and technology with a variety of programming, including the fourth annual Storyscapes program — a juried showcase of interactive storytelling, VR showcases, TFI Interactive, and more.

Deadlines to submit U.S. and international films for the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival are as follows:

  • September 14, 2015: Submissions open for feature films, short films, interactive storytelling projects
  • October 16, 2015: Early deadline for feature films and short films
  • November 25, 2015: Official entry deadline for feature films, short films, interactive storytelling projects
  • December 23, 2015: Late entry deadline for feature length world-premiere films only

*** Complete information regarding eligibility and rules and regulations for the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival will be available at - www.tribecafilm.com/festival