Month: October 2021

KEY WEST FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES SIXTH ANNUAL “GOLDEN KEY FOR COSTUME DESIGN” HONORING EMMY AND TONY AWARD-WINNING COSTUME DESIGNER PAUL TAZEWELL

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2021 FESTIVAL RUNS NOVEMBER 17TH -21ST

New York, NY- October 5, 2021 — The Key West Film Festival announced today the recipient of its sixth annual Golden Key for Excellence in Costume Design, honoring Emmy and Tony Award-winning costume designer Paul Tazewell.

Tazewell's most recent work includes the upcoming Steven Spielberg film West Side Story as well as Hamilton and Harriet.

As part of the honor, Tazewell will also participate in a discussion of his work, to be moderated by Dr. Deborah Nadoolman Landis.

Paul Tazewell has been designing costumes for Broadway, Regional Theater, Film and Television, Dance, and Opera Productions for close to thirty years. He began his Broadway career with the groundbreaking musical, ‘Bring in Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk, directed by George C. Wolfe. Paul is best known for his work with both of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning Original Broadway productions of Hamilton, for which he received the Tony Award and In the Heights, both directed by Thomas Kail. Other Broadway credits include Ain’t Too Proud; The Color Purple; Memphis; Caroline, or Change; and Elaine Stritch at Liberty.

Paul Tazewell

Paul’s feature film credits include; Harriet directed by Kasi Lemmons and starring Cynthia Erivo, Hamiltondirected by Thomas Kail and the anxiously anticipated West Side Story, directed by Steven Spielberg. TV credits include the HBO Original Film The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, starring Oprah Winfrey and Lackawanna Blues, both directed by George C. Wolfe. Paul also designed costumes for The Wiz! Live, for which he received an Emmy Award and Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert featuring John Legend.

In the United States and across the globe, Paul has designed for such renowned companies as The Metropolitan Opera, The Bolshoi Ballet, The English National Opera, Theatre du Chatelet, The Public Theater, National Theatre UK, The Kennedy Center, The Guthrie Theater, Arena Stage, Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, The Chicago Lyric Opera and many more.

Dr. Landis, a former Costume Design Governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and an Academy Award®-nominee, presented the first annual Golden Key for costume design in 2016 to Mary Zophres, who went on to receive an Oscar® nomination for her work in La La Land, and to the last four year’s honorees: Mark Bridges, who won
the 2018 Oscar® for Best Costume Design for The Phantom Thread; and Alexandra Byrne, who’s work in Mary Queen of Scots was recognized by an Academy Award nomination; Arianne Phillips, nominate for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood; and Francine Jamison-Tanchuck for her artistry in Regina King’s One Night in Miami.

Michael Tuckman, Director of Programming of the Key West Film Festival, commented I am thinking something along the lines of this for that quote "We are beyond thrilled to shine a spotlight on Paul's fabulous work in the upcoming West Side Story. Now in our 6th year of being the only festival in the country to annually recognize the art and craft of Costume Design, we've broken new ground once again with Paul, whose creations have not only brought to life the characters in major Hollywood films like Harriet and Hamilton, but is someone whose work can be treasured at the highest levels of film, television, theater and opera. He's a triple threat plus one, and we can't wait to be further enthralled during his conversation with Deborah Landis, who has supported this award since Day One."

Visit kwfilmfest.com for full program information – which will be announced on October 19, along with a schedule of events and travel and lodging details.

West Side Story (Photo Credit_ Niko Tavernise, 20th Century Studios)

ABOUT THE KEY WEST FILM FESTIVAL

Honoring creativity, diversity, sustainability and beauty, the Key West Film Festival is an annual celebration of film and filmmakers set to take place November 17-21, 2021.

A diverse, entertaining and artistically rigorous selection of films will be represented through a broad array of categories that offer opportunities for filmmakers, both aspiring and established, to commune and exchange ideas while showing their work to audiences in an historic and artistically vibrant tropical paradise.

For more information, visit our website: https://kwfilmfest.com

Twitter - @keywestfilmfest
Instagram - @keywestfilmfestival
Facebook - Key West Film Festival

#kwff #kwff2021 #tropiccinema

‘CIVIL WAR, An Urgent Reflection on America’s Collective Memory’ Premieres on MSNBC on Sunday, October 24 at 10:00pm ET

Directer: Rachel Boynton
Executive Producers by Henry Louis Gates Jr. & Sam Pollard
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 1 hour 40 minutes
Country: USA:

“In this time of reckoning in the country, Rachel Boynton’s journey into the heart of Civil War memory reveals just how contested, and personal, the meaning of this defining event in our history remains.” – Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

“[A] remarkable documentary… Delicately artful… There is
no shortage of provocative inquiry, or empathy, or understanding.”
– John Anderson, The Wall Street Journal

Union and Confederate veterans shaking hands at reunion to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg as seen in Civil War (or, Who Do We Think We Are) , directed by Rachel Boyton. Image courtesy of the U.S. Library of Congress.
Union and Confederate veterans shaking hands at reunion to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg as seen in Civil War (or, Who Do We Think We Are) , directed by Rachel Boyton. Image courtesy of the U.S. Library of Congress.

CIVIL WAR (OR, WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE), a timely and probing look at how Americans tell the story of their Civil War and its legacy of slavery and racism, will premiere on MSNBC on Sunday, October 24 at 10:00pm ET. Directed by three-time Emmy nominee Rachel Boynton (Big Men, Our Brand is Crisis), the film includes Henry Louis Gates Jr., Sam Pollard and Brad Pitt among its executive producers.

CIVIL WAR (OR, WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE) travels across the United States—particularly to its classrooms—to explore the different ways the Civil War has been taught and interpreted, commemorated and celebrated. Filmed from the last year of Obama’s presidency through the present, it interweaves insightful scenes and candid interviews filmed North and South, painting a uniquely crafted, multi-faceted portrait of our national narrative. With subtlety and determination, CIVIL WAR portrays a nation in denial, haunted by an embittered past and the stories it refuses to tell.

CIVIL WAR (OR, WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE) was written and directed by Rachel Boynton and produced by Rachel Boynton and Erika Dilday. It was shot by Nelson Walker and edited by Steven Golliday, Mark Juergens and Rachel Boynton. Executive producers are Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremey Kleiner, Steven Shainberg, Sam Pollard, Robert S. Kravis, and Rick Rosenthall. Music is by Nathan Larson.

An unidentified African American soldier in a Union uniform with wife and two daughters as seen in Civil War (or, Who Do We Think We Are) , directed by Rachel Boyton. Image courtesy of the U.S. Library of Cong
An unidentified African American soldier in a Union uniform with wife and two daughters as seen in Civil War (or, Who Do We Think We Are) , directed by Rachel Boyton. Image courtesy of the U.S. Library of Cong
A confederate statue in front of the old courthouse building in Lexington, MS as seen in Civil War (or, Who Do We Think We Are) , directed by Rachel Boyton. Photo credit: Nelson Walker III
A confederate statue in front of the old courthouse building in Lexington, MS as seen in Civil War (or, Who Do We Think We Are) , directed by Rachel Boyton. Photo credit: Nelson Walker III
Rachel Boyton, director of Civil War (or, Who Do We Think We Are). Photo credit: Justine Cooper
Rachel Boyton, director of Civil War (or, Who Do We Think We Are). Photo credit: Justine Cooper

About the Director Rachel Boynton

This is Rachel Boynton’s third film in a series examining the systems that control how Americans live and relate to the rest of the world. She consistently probes and questions the beliefs and stories that bind America as a nation. Her first feature documentary, Our Brand is Crisis, explored democracy and democratic ideals: it followed a group of American political consultants as they traveled to South America to help Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada become President of Bolivia. It was the winner of the International Documentary Association's Best Feature Documentary Award and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Rachel’s second film, Big Men, explored international capitalism and its principles: it focused on Americans operating in the oil industry in West Africa. Big Men was released theatrically in the US in 2014 and aired on the PBS series POV. The film was nominated for three News and Documentary Emmy Awards including Best Documentary. Civil War is Rachel's first film to be shot exclusively in the United States.