TODD HAYNES’ “CAROL” STARRING CATE BLANCHETT AND AMY BERG’S DOCUMENTARY “JANIS: LITTLE GIRL BLUE” TO BOOKEND BAHAMAS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AS OFFICIAL OPENING AND CLOSING NIGHT FILMS
|
The Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF) announced today the two
features that will bookend the Festival as the Opening and Closing Night
films. Director Todd Haynes’ beautiful feature film, “Carol”, starring
Cate Blanchett
and Rooney Mara will raise the curtain at this year’s festival as the
official Opening Night Film in Nassau on
December 9
while Amy Berg’s critically acclaimed Janis Joplin documentary, “Janis:
Little Girl Blue”, will bring the week’s festivities to an end
in celebratory fashion as the official Closing Night film. The
announcement was made today by BIFF Founder and Executive Director
Leslie Vanderpool.
Vanderpool,
said, “I’m excited to be showing two amazing and powerful films to open
and close the Nassau component of our Festival this year. ‘Carol’ has
created such a buzz internationally and our Caribbean premiere
of Todd Haynes’ film on Opening Night will be a highly sought-after
ticket at BIFF. ‘Janis: Little Girl Blue’ is an important documentary
and a very special choice for BIFF”s Closing Night screening. It’s a
culturally important film and is a fitting finale
to our Festival program as we expand BIFF with our “Music and Film”
component, and continue our important focus on women in film. Both films
are likely frontrunners in the coming Awards Season in Hollywood.”
“Carol”
is set in 1950s New York and tells the story of Therese, a
department-store clerk who dreams of a better life falls for an older,
married woman named Carol. The movie features luminous, highly-praised
performances
from multiple Oscar® winner Cate Blanchett (“Truth”; “The Monuments
Men”; “Blue Jasmine”) and Rooney Mara (“The Social Network”; “The Girl
With the Dragon Tattoo”) and masterful direction from Todd Haynes (“I’m
Not There”; “Far From Heaven”.) The screenplay
was written by Phyllis Nagy, adapted from the novel “The Price Of Salt”
by Patricia Highsmith (“The Talented Mr. Ripley”; “Strangers On A
Train”). Producers are Elizabeth Karlsen (“Hyena”; “Byzantium”) Tessa
Ross (“Room”, “12 Years A Slave”) Christine Vachon
(“Still Alice”; “I’m Not There”) and Stephen Woolley (“Great
Expectations”; “Byzantium”). The film is a Weinstein Company release in
the U.S.
Officially
long-listed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the
87th Annual Academy Awards®, “Janis: Little Girl Blue” is an inspiring
celebration of Janis Joplin’s life and music. Amy Berg wrote
and directed the documentary based on the life of the iconic
singer/songwriter. On stage and on camera, Joplin frequently projected
an image of being high and happy-go-lucky. Berg's film reveals a more
vulnerable character who cycled in and out of addictions
and channeled her emotions into her art. Contemporary singer Cat Power
(a.k.a. Chan Marshall) does an uncanny job of recreating Joplin's voice
in readings from her letters. But the dominant voice is Joplin's own, in
extraordinary performances drawn from both
classic and rare footage. Academy Award®-winner Academy Award® winner
Alex Gibney (“Taxi to the Dark Side,” Going Clear: Scientology and the
Prison of Belief”) produced the film through his Jigsaw Productions
banner with Amy Berg, Jeff Jampol (“The Doors:
When You’re Strange”) from JAM, Inc. and Katherine LeBlond. Content
Media handles international sales for the film.
A sixties-themed Gala Closing Night Party at the Graycliff will follow the screening on
December 12, and tickets to the screening and the party – as well as the Opening Night Film and Reception – are available
online at http://www.bintlfilmfest.com/
box_office or through the BIFF Phone App.
BIFF 2015 kicks off on Tuesday, December 1st and will run through Saturday, December 12th, showcasing more than 130 films from 40 different countries, including nine international
premieres and 28 Caribbean premiers.
For the fourth consecutive year, BIFF will be coming to Harbour Island on
December 1-4, showcasing ten feature and short films and hosting the Screenwriters Residency Program. BIFF will then screen all short films
in a festival-within-a-festival on Governor’s Harbour
December 5-8,
and will also present a Master Class for Music and Film there. The
Festival then concludes in Nassau with the main program lineup of
features and documentaries, along with some select shorts,
screening from
December 9-12.