Friday, September 6
PREMIERE
STYX + TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL SPOTLIGHT
Starting out in 1976 as a collection of films from other festivals – a “festival of festivals” – the Toronto International Film Festival has become one of the most beloved cinematic events in the world, universally regarded as an ideal platform for filmmakers to launch their careers and to premiere their new work. The 2019 Fest just kicked off on September 5, and to commemorate the occasion, Film Movement Plus will premiere STYX, a 2018 Official Selection.
In this acclaimed thriller, ER doctor Rike (Susanne Wolff) leaves behind her everyday life to fulfill a long-held dream: a solo crossing of the Atlantic. But when she boards the Asa Gray, her gleaming white sailboat, in Gibraltar, she has no way of knowing the troubles or personal transformations that await her on the open seas. Following a rough storm, she happens upon an overloaded, damaged boat teeming with dozens of refugees. When emergency calls to the Coast Guard and nearby commercial vessels go unreturned and rescue seems unlikely, she’s forced to take matters into her own hands in a film that David Ehrlich of Indiewire said is “Told with the intensity of a ticking-clock thriller” and Variety calls, “brisk, efficient and thrillingly dynamic.”
Film Movement Plus also invites movie aficionados to curate their own film festival with Official TIFF Selections from the past years with everything from Rungano Nyoni’s acclaimed I AM NOT A WITCH (2017), the U.K.’s official submission for Best Foreign Language Film, Hirokazu Kore-Eda’s AFTER THE STORM (2016) and Koji Fukada’s Un Certain Regard winner HARMONIUM (2016). Other TIFF films include:
IN BETWEEN (2016, Director Maysaloun Hamoud)
SOUL ON A STRING (2016, Director Yang Zhang)
THE APPRENTICE (2016, Director Boo Junfeng)
EVA DOESN’T SLEEP (2015, Director Pablo Aguero)
SCHNEIDER VS. BAX (2015, Director Alex van Warmerdam)
THE ARDENNES (2015, Director Robin Pront)
THE OTHER SIDE (2015, Director Roberto Minervini)
Friday, September 13
PREMIERE
ALL ABOUT LILY CHOU-CHOU + BACK TO SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT
As summer turns to fall, and kids of all ages trade their carefree lives for the rigors of the classroom, Film Movement Plus offers up an academic collection of A+ films both educational and entertaining, leading off with the streaming premiere of ALL ABOUT LILY CHOU-CHOU, Shunji Iwai’s lyrical coming of age tale.
For kids around the world, music is often the only salvation when the pain and anxiety of teenage life becomes too much to bear. Yuichi (Hayato Ichihara) is in the 8th grade and he worships Lily Chou-Chou, a Bjork-like chanteuse whose epic music is lush and transcendent. Yuichi only lives for Lily Chou-Chou’s big Tokyo concert, where the lies and violence can be washed away by the presence of his goddess and her powerful music. But fate has yet another obstacle in store for Lily’s devoted fan in this acclaimed drama that Ernest Hardy of LA Weekly called “One of the most haunting, viciously honest coming-of-age films in recent memory.”
Film Movement Plus also invites movie lovers to go back to school with these additional streaming selections:
1981 (2009, Director Ricardo Trogi)
BLUSH (2015, Director Michael Vinik)
BREATHE (2014, Director Mélanie Laurent)
CLANDESTINE CHILDHOOD (2012, Director Benjamín Ávila)
FOREIGN LETTERS (2012, Director Ela Thier)
SECRETS OF WAR (2014, Director Dennis Bots)
THE TEACHER (2016, Director Jan Hrebejk)
SPOTLIGHT
HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH
Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.
Film Movement Plus joins the celebration with a collection of acclaimed films from around the world, from Arturo Ripstein’s stunning directorial debut TIME TO DIE (Mexico, 1966) , from an original story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (“One Hundred Years of Solitude”), and featuring dialogue by Mexican novelist/essayist Carlos Fuentes (“The Death of Artemio Cruz”, “The Old Gringo”) to MIDAQ ALLEY (Mexico, 1995), from Director Jorge Fons, starring Salma Hayek in her breakthrough role.
Other FM+ films for HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH include:
ALAMAR (Mexico, 2009, Director Pedro González-Rubio)
EVA DOESN’T SLEEP (Argentina, 2015, Dirtector Pablo Aguero)
INSEPARABLES (Argentina, 2016, Director Marcos Carnevale)
LA BOYITA (Argentina, 2009, Director Julia Solomonoff)
LAKE TAHOE (Mexico, 2008, Director Fernando Eimbcke)
MADEINUSA (Peru, Spain, 2006, Director Claudia Llosa)
THE IGNORANCE OF BLOOD (Spain, 2014, Director Manuel Gómez Pereira)
THE VIOLIN (Mexico, 2005, Director Francisco Vargas)
THE WIND JOURNEYS (Colombia, Argentina, 2009, Director Ciro Guerra)
VIVA CUBA (Cuba, 2005, Director Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti)
Friday, September 20
PREMIERE
ICEMAN
On September 19, 1991, a melting glacier revealed the body of a man. At first, people assumed he was a hiker. Later, his true Stone Age origins were revealed. ICEMAN is his story, and the film that The Hollywood Reporter calls “a visceral thrill ride through the Alpine Copper Age” makes its streaming premiere on Film Movement Plus.
From writer/director Felix Randau, ICEMAN is set in the stunning Ötztal Alps, more than 5,300 years ago. Kelab (Jürgen Vogel), leader of a Neolithic clan, is also the appointed keeper of the group’s holy shrine, Tineka. But, one day, while out hunting, his village is attacked by a band of marauders. Everyone in the tribe is brutally murdered, including Kelab’s wife and son, and Tineka is stolen. Blinded by pain and fury, Kelab now has one sole purpose – vengeance – and he sets off on a treacherous odyssey through the mountains to confront his family’s killers.
“A bloodthirsty prehistoric revenge movie.”
— Sight & Sound
“Stunning”
— Los Angeles Times
Friday, September 27
PREMIERE
FARINELLI
In the 18th century during Handel’s time, no man could eclipse the fame or passion of the opera singer Farinelli. Coinciding with the start of the new Metropolitan Opera season (9/23) comes the streaming premiere of FARINELLI, the incredible true story of the legendary castrato.
Castrated as a child to preserve his angelic voice, Farinelli (Stefano Dionisi) tours the royal courts of Europe with his brother and composer Riccardo (Enrico Lo Verso). The two are inseparable, seducing audiences both on and off the stage, while sharing everything – even lovers – until rivalry and obsession threaten to tear them apart. Filled with romance and eroticism, this Oscar®-nominated drama from acclaimed producer Véra Belmont lavishly recreates the life and loves of one of history’s most fascinating musical artists
“Does for the singer what Amadeus did for Mozart.”
— The Times
“A triumph… artistry abounds in every aspect of the film.
— Los Angeles Times
About FILM MOVEMENT PLUS
FILM MOVEMENT PLUS (www.filmmovementplus.com) opens up a world of provocative, compelling and award-winning films from Film Movement’s singular library. Priced at $5.99 per month with a free 14-day trial, the SVOD subscription service, currently available on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Android TV, mobile (iOS and Android), and Chromecast, offers consumers immediate access to 250 festival favorite feature films and 100 short films, including: THEEB, the 2016 Academy Award® nominee for Best Foreign Film; AFTER THE STORM, a powerful family drama from 2018 Palme d’Or winner Hirokazu Kore-eda; HUMAN CAPITAL, a political thriller from Paolo Virzi (The Leisure Seeker) that was Italy’s Best Foreign Film submission for the 87th Academy Awards® and MY LOVE, DON’T CROSS THAT RIVER, an unforgettable documentary about true love that transcends generations and cultures and is South Korea’s most successful film of all time. Classics from the Film Movement catalog include Bille August’s PELLE THE CONQUEROR, an Academy Award® winner for Best Foreign Language Film in 1996 and much more.
About Film Movement
Founded in 2002 as one of the first-ever subscription film services with its DVD-of-the-Month club, Film Movement is now a North American distributor of award-winning independent and foreign films based in New York City. It has released more than 250 feature films and shorts culled from prestigious film festivals worldwide. Film Movement’s theatrical releases include American independent films, documentaries, and foreign art house titles. Its catalog includes titles by directors such as Hirokazu Kore-eda, Maren Ade, Jessica Hausner, Andrei Konchalovsky, Andrzej Wajda, Diane Kurys, Ciro Guerra, King Hu and Melanie Laurent. In 2015, Film Movement launched its reissue label Film Movement Classics, featuring new restorations released theatrically as well as on Blu-ray and DVD, including films by such noted directors as Eric Rohmer, Peter Greenaway, Bille August, Marleen Gorris, Takeshi Kitano, Arturo Ripstein, Sergio Corbucci and Ettore Scola. For more information, please visit www.filmmovement.com.
