New Directors/New Films and Film Comment Selects 2012

[Chris Knipp]

HOT TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE

The film reviewed here in Filmleaf's Festival Coverage section will be released by Sundance Selects in theaters September 21, 2012, it has now been announced.

Again it's been announced firmly that HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE opens in the US Sept. 21, 2012 in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco.

From invitation to screenings:

“I sat down to watch ‘How to Survive a Plague’ expecting to cry, and cry I did… What I didn’t expect was how much hope I would feel. How much comfort. While the movie vividly chronicles the wages of bigotry and neglect, it even more vividly chronicles how much society can budge when the people exhorting it to are united and determined and smart and right.”
– Frank Bruni, The New York Times

“Remarkable… An epic celebration of heroism and tenacity, and less directly, a useful template for any fledgling activist movement, demonstrating the effectiveness of inside/outside strategy. The film was clearly a monumental research project, culling material from 700 hours of video. France’s reporting skills are impeccable. But in his first documentary, he also shows a firm grasp of narrative, giving this decade-long chronicle a driving, fluid through-line.” – David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter

[Sept. 4, 2012]

[Chris Knipp]

Another ND/NF gets US theatrical release.



Pablo Giorgelli: LAS ACACIAS (2011--ND/NF)

LAS ACACIAS was released Sept 7, 2012 in NYC at Quad Cinema. It received generally favorable reviews (Metacritic rating: 72, though based on only five reviews.) I still feel there is too little going on here but remind you I said the two performances are "well modulated and pitch perfect" despite the "modulation" being "from tepid to lukewarm." The film opened in the UK in December 2011 and received raves in brief reviews in the Independent and the Guardian. Caméra d'Or (best first film) at Cannes 2011. A very brief but favorable NY TImes review by Jeannette Catsoulis concluded "The very definition of modest, "Las Acacias" articulates emotional transformation with simplicity and grace. Rarely has a film managed to say so much while saying so little."