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KEY WEST FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES FOURTH ANNUAL “GOLDEN KEY FOR COSTUME DESIGN” HONORING OSCAR®-NOMINATED COSTUME DESIGNER ARIANNE PHILLIPS

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 2019 FESTIVAL RUNS NOVEMBER 20TH -24TH

New York, NY — October 3, 2019 — The Key West Film Festival announced today its fourth annual Costume Design Focus program, honoring Academy Award®-nominated costume designer Arianne Phillips.

Phillips’ most recent work is on display in Sony Pictures’ and Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. She has received Oscar® nominations for her artistry in Walk the Line and W.E. and multiple nominations  for BAFTA, Tony and Costume Design Guild Awards via her work in the Broadway production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Tom Ford’s A Single Man. The Festival will present Phillips with its Golden Key for Excellence in Costume Design award, to honor her versatile talents, which have been showcased in everything from period costume dramas to superhero blockbusters.

Phillips will also participate in a discussion of her work, to be moderated by Eric Kohn, Executive Editor and Chief Critic of Indiewire and co-host of the weekly ScreenTalk podcast with Anne Thompson.

The discussion will be followed by a screening of A Single Man on the 10th anniversary of its release as a showcase for Phillips’ work.

The Award will be presented via satellite by Dr. Deborah Nadoolman Landis. Dr. Landis, a Costume Design Governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and an Academy Award®-nominee, presented the first annual career achievement award 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 two 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.

Michael Tuckman, Director of Programming of the Key West Film Festival, commented “The time and place that Tarantino captured in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood could not have been accomplished without the true artistry and beauty of the costumes that transported us all back in time and gave the film an authenticity like no other. Arianne Phillips is a master of design and we are thrilled to be able to honor and showcase her work.”

Visit kwfilmfest.com for full program information – which will be announced on October 30, along with a schedule of events and travel and lodging details.

Tyler Perry Receives His Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Tyler Perry' speaking at his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony. Photo: Yevette Renee
Tyler Perry' speaking at his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony. Photo: Yevette Renee
Tyler Perry's new star Photo: Yevette Renee
Tyler Perry's new star Photo: Yevette Renee
Tamala Mann at Tyler Perry's Hollywood Walk of Fame. Photo: Yevette Renee
Tamala Mann at Tyler Perry's Hollywood Walk of Fame. Photo: Yevette Renee
Kerry Washington Photo: Yevette Renee
Kerry Washington Photo: Yevette Renee
Michael Jai White and his wife at Tyler Perry's Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony. Photo: Yevette Renee
Michael Jai White and his wife at Tyler Perry's Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony. Photo: Yevette Renee

Tyler Perry, writer, producer, director, stage and screen actor, Film Studio owner, received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, on Tuesday, October 1, 2019.

There to give their support and speak at the ceremony was Kerry Washington , who was in his film “Colored Girls” and Idris Elba, who starred in Perry’s film “Daddy’s Little Girl” and Crystal Fox, who plays Hannah Young in his OWN network show “The Have and The Have Nots.”

David and Tamala Mann, Michael Jai White, along with his wife, and the cast from his new Viacom shows, “The Oval” and “Sistas” were out in full force to support Tyler Perry.

Beginning with his first play “I Know I’ve Been Changed”, to Madea ,the hugely successful theatrical plays that became movies, to his first feature film “Dairy of a Mad Black Woman” and now being the first black person to have 100% of a movie studio, Tyler Perry Studios, where Marvel’s Black Panthers was amongst the first to be filmed at his studio.

Woodstock Film Festival 2019 18 TO PARTY

Director/ Screenwriter: Jeff Roda

Starring: Alivia Clark, Tanner Flood, James Freedson-Jackson, Oliver Gifford, Nolan Lyons, Sam McCarthy, Ivy Miller, Taylor Richardson and Erich Schuett.

Producers: Nikola Duravcevic, Emily Ziff Griffin, Andrew Cahill and Stephanie Marin.

Including music by: The Alarm, Big Audio Dynamite, Mick Jones, The Velvet Underground and many more.

WFF 2019 Official Screenings:

Friday, October 4th
WORLD PREMIERE: 9:30PM (Upstate Films, Woodstock)
Q&A to follow with filmmaker and key cast.

Sunday, October 6th 
3:15PM (Rosendale Theater)
Q&A to follow with filmmaker and key cast.

It’s 1984 and outside a small-town nightclub, a group of 8th graders gather, grappling with a spate of recent suicides, UFO sightings, their absentee parents, and each other. 18 TO PARTY spans a single evening in the lives of these kids, but manages to transport us fully to a time when waiting for something to happen felt just as significant as the thing itself. Gorgeously atmospheric, with a pulsating sense of anticipation that steadily builds, the film pulls us into the fears, wounds, and desires of each character, ultimately revealing that hope may arrive from the last place we expect. The meticulously authentic production design, killer soundtrack, and universally excellent performances recall the spirit of classic 80s teen movies like Stand By Me and The Breakfast Club.

18 TO PARTY is a spot-on love letter to Gen X, awkward teenagers, and the transcendent power of friendship.

FILMMAKER JEFF RODA

Jeff Roda has written screenplays for DreamWorks, Universal, Paramount Pictures, New Regency, TriStar, and television pilots for HBO, CBS, and Warner Bros. Additionally, he was a producer on the Sony Pictures Classics feature, Love Liza, starring Academy Award winning actors Philip Seymour Hoffman and Kathy Bates. 18 TO PARTY marks his directorial debut.

Roda is a local resident of Woodstock area and the film is set in Upstate New York.

WFF 2019 Ticket Information: http://woodstockfilmfestival.org/ticketinfo

IF THE DANCER DANCES, will be released on VOD on November 12

IF THE DANCER DANCES

** New York Times Critic’s Pick** 

Produced by: Lise Friedman and Maia Wechsler

Directed by: Maia Wechsler

 Official Selection: Dance On Camera 2018, Raindance 2018

Feature Documentary, 83 Minutes, USA IF THE DANCER DANCES will be released on VOD and all major digital platforms including  Itunes, Amazon, Vimeo, Google, Sony, and NMS on November 12, 2019.

IF THE DANCER DANCES invites viewers into the intimate world of the dance studio. Stephen Petronio, one of today’s leading dance-makers, is determined to help his dancers breathe new life into RainForest (1968), an iconic work by the legendary choreographer Merce Cunningham. With help from three members of the former Cunningham company, the film tracks Petronio’s dancers as they strive to re-stage this great work, revealing what it takes to keep a dance – and a legacy – alive. Timed to coincide with Cunningham’s centennial, IF THE DANCER DANCES  is the first documentary on the subject of Cunningham’s work since his passing in 2009.

“The dance studio is a private and mysterious place. IF THE DANCER DANCES grants us rare access, bringing us into the studio to watch the staging of a Merce Cunningham masterwork on the Stephen Petronio Company. It’s the tracking of this intimate process, a dance being passed one body to another, that makes this film a great gift.”  Mikhail Baryshnikov on IF THE DANCER DANCES

Merce Cunningham was an American dancer and choreographer who stood at the forefront of American modern dance for more than 60 years. As a choreographer, teacher, and leader of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Cunningham had a profound influence on modern dance and earned some of the highest honors bestowed in the arts, including the National Medal of Arts and the MacArthur ‘Genius’ Fellowship. Cunningham is also notable for his frequent collaborations with artists of other disciplines, including the musicians Radiohead and John Cage (also his life partner), as well as visual artists Andy Warhol, who did the décor for  RainForest, the dance featured in If the Dancer Dances, Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. 

Cunningham’s centennial is being celebrated worldwide in 2019 with performances, installations, films and other special events to honor his legacy. 



JOKER World Premiere

JOKER release date in United States: October 4, 2019

Running time:    122 minutes
Writers: Todd Phillips, Scott Silver
Based on Characters by DC Comics
Star: Joaquin Phoenix
Music:  Hildur Guðnadóttir
Cinematography: Lawrence Sher
Editor: Jeff Groth
Production companies: DC Films, Village Roadshow Pictures, Bron Creative, Joint Effort
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Budget $55 million

Terrance Howard Receives His Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

Terrance Howard, Oscar nominated actor, singer and songwriter, received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, on Tuesday, October 24, 2019.

The recognition of his body of work, was on the same day as the premiere on “Empire”, which is also its final season.

Director Michael D. Lee, he directed Howard in the 1999 his film “Best Man” and its sequel “The Best Man Holiday”, spoke in his honor, as well as director, Dito Montiel, who directed  him in the 2009 film “Fighting”.

His fiancée and his two young sons and Evan Ross were there to share in his special day.

Terrance Howard’s star is right next to his “Empire” co-star, Taraji P. Henson.

Congratulations Terrance Howard!

The 44th Annual Toronto International Film Festival Winners

The winners at the 44th Annual Toronto International Film Festival.

The IWC Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Short Film went to Chloé Robichaud for Delphine.

An honourable mention went  to Theodore Ushev’s The Physics of Sorrow for its impressive filmmaking and detailed craftsmanship.

IWC Short Cuts Award for Best Short Film  Lasse Linder for All Cats Are Grey in the Dark.

An honourable mention went to Federico Luis Tachella’s The Nap.

The City of Toronto Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film was given to Matthew Rankin’s The Twentieth Century. The jury stated, “Rankin’s debut feature is superb in its imaginative wildness, taking an otherwise staid historical Canadian figure and propelling him into the heart of one of the most creative, visual, and compelling experiences of the Festival.”

The Canada Goose Award for Best Canadian Feature Film was awarded to Sophie Deraspe’s Antigone. The jury said that “Antigone stands out on its own as an electrifying piece of cinema. Tackling with vigour contemporary realities of immigration in Canada through the framework of Greek tragedy, Deraspe created magnificent onscreen humanism. It is imperative to point out Nahéma Ricci’s performance, reminiscent of Renée Falconetti’s Jeanne d’Arc.” The jury gave an honourable mention to Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn’s The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open.

Selected by a jury from the Network for the Promotion of Asian Pacific Cinema (NETPAC), the NETPAC Award went to Oualid Mouaness’ 1982. The jury remarked that this film was elected “for its adventurous, imaginative style and subtle, confident filmmaking, bravely juxtaposing and framing the universal innocence and charm of youth within harrowing historical context.”

This year marked the 42nd year that Toronto audiences were able to cast a ballot for their favourite Festival film for the Grolsch People’s Choice Award. This year, audiences chose Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit as the recipient. The first runner-up was Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, and the second runner-up was Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite. The Grolsch People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award went to Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s The Platform. The first runner-up for this was Andrew Patterson’s The Vast of Night, and the second runner-up was Jeff Barnaby’s Blood Quantum. Finally, the Grolsch People’s Choice Documentary Award was given to The Cave, directed by Feras Fayyad. The first runner-up was Garin Hovannisian’s I Am Not Alone, and the second runner-up was Bryce Dallas Howard’s Dads.

The 45th Annual Toronoto International Film Festival will take place September 10th-September 20th, 2020.