Robert Aaron Mitchell deep in South Texas filming a rattlesnake for his next film. (Do not attempt this at home)
"I am making something vastly different than The Bobby Diamonds Story) I am an American living during this time in America. I have a lot of rage inside because of the fascism this country has become. As I say this another mass shooting has taken place. This time in Minneapolis. Year after year after year these tragedies occur and nothing positive has been done. Gun laws have gotten more lax as time goes on. This country is entering a period of severe instability. The civil war never truly ended. It has remained as embers of hate all these years later. We are entering another period of civil war. While this film I am currently mired in does not directly address these issues the film is serving as a primal scream and it would be naive to think my environment is not playing a role in my artistic endeavors. At the end of the day during the production and post-production phases on my new work I am striving to make a scary fucking movie."
I am thrilled to announce that The Bobby Diamonds Story has won Best Short Documentary at the Tokyo International Short Film Festival. Yesterday I received the award. Click HERE for an interview I did with the Tokyo International Film Festival.
The Bobby Diamonds Story has begun it's film festival run. On September 5th the film won Best Documentary Short at the Venice Fullshot Film Festival. I am very grateful and humbled by this award as my short begins the roller coaster ride that is submitting to film festivals.
Underground poker player Bobby Diamonds steps into the spotlight in a hallucinatory, hilarious and heartfelt documentary. Here is the official trailer:
Caroline Ford speaks with Robert Mitchell at the premiere of Nekrotronic
We all know that the longer one surfs the net the waves can take you into dark places. In Nekrotronic - the Roache-Turner brothers next film following their feature length debut Wyrmwood - Howard North discovers that there are literally demons in the the internet. A fight to save himself and the world ensues. The film defies genre classification. The Nerdist says this, "(Nekrotronic is) like if Tarantino's been watching Edgar Wright and Wachowski films and than made Ghostbusters."
Robert Mitchell was the world premiere at Midnight Madness at the Toronto International Film Festival and spoke with the lead actors and writers and director. Here are those interviews as well as the world premiere introduction and post-screening Q&A:
"The cinema is the image and the voice of the 20th century. The first century when life was captured by an instrument of marvels: the cinematographer. Images have grown fragile over time, images that have to be restored and distributed for the world's memory." ~ Éléphant ClassiQ
Géarld Duchaussoy, Robert A. Mitchell, Sarah Dillard Mitchell
We currently live in this modern era of cinema where giant studio pictures have advertising campaigns that start years before a film is set to open in a theater. Marketing strategies that continue to slide into complete ridiculousness. One only has to look at the concept of the teaser trailer for the teaser trailer. The few films that even grace a chain movie theater arrive with much hype and most are gone in the blink of an eye. Relegated to bargain bins of giant corporate box stores. With the advent and rise of V.O.D and online streaming services -- which hopefully level out the playing field for all kinds of films, however are further removed from the communal ritual of going to a movie theater. Anyone who makes films, writes about films or enjoys watching movies will occasionally contemplate the current state of cinema. Movies these days can oftentimes not feel so much an art form but a very disposable entertainment.
Which brings me to the Éléphant ClassiQ film festival. A film festival in it's inaugural year, this first installment showcased classic French-language cinema. Films of French, Belgian, Swiss, African and Québec heritage resulted in a lot of variety in the programming. Elephant ClassiQ's theme was les films qui ont le cinéma which
translates to movies that made cinema. With films screening from such
luminaries such as Jean-Peirre Melville, Agnès Varda, Jaques Demy,
Chantal Akerman, Jean-Luc Goddard this was a November weekend spent in the company of many cinematic greats. The curated programme was over twenty feature films, screening over the four days of the festival. One of the major highlights for me were the classic short films from Alice Guy created at the very early part of the 20th century that played before the feature films. Some examples: Les cambrioleurs (1898) Chapellerie et charcuterie automatiques (1900), Faust et Méphistophélès (1903) and Le tango (1905).
One of the films I was very excited to see was the restored L'armée des ombres by Jean-Pierre Melville. The film focuses on the French resistance during World War II. A sprawling, bleak tale of enormous courage in the face of great adversity. This film is Melville's epic. Here is the conversation prior to the screening with Géarld Duchaussoy and Ruy Nogueira, critique de cinéma.
Other cinema highlights were Jacques Demy's Les parapluies de Cherbourg
As well Cléo de 5 à 7 by Agnès Varda. Here is Géarld Duchaussoy's introduction.
I was also happy to see Le grand bleu by Luc Besson. A film of his I had not seen. It was very informative to see this epic character story from Monsieur Besson. The film featured exceptionally cinematography by Carlo Varini with many sequences shot underwater.
Along with the many classic films there were also bellessalles de cinéma that were projecting the films. Here is the Cinéma Impérial.
The interior.
Cinémathèque québécoise
One of the theaters.
Walking into the lobby of the Cinémathèque québécoise my eyes opened large looking at all the beautiful movie posters that were part of the exhibit celebrating the 120 years of Gaumont, the oldest cinematographic company in the world that was born at the
same time as the cinema. Here are a couple of pictures:
Attending the Éléphant ClassiQ film festival was a great experience. It was wonderful to revisit old favorites and discover classic films for the first time. Huge kudos to the entire team behind this film festival who embarked on the journey to create such a great weekend showcasing many beautiful films from the past. The inaugural edition of the Éléphant ClassiQ was a beautiful celebration of cinema.
Robert A. Mitchell at the 2015 Éléphant ClassiQ Film Festival
I am pleased to announce that I will be returning to the Midnight Madness program of The Toronto International. I'll be back on the red carpet talking to many creative and talented folks who worked hard to bring their films to life. This will be my eleventh year attending the festival and sixth year as a Midnight Madness blogger and I felt it would be cool to put together some of my favorite moments over the years at TIFF.
One of my favorite red carpets was in 2010 for the World Premiere of John Carpenter's The Ward. The great director was unable to attend but in talking to the cast the resulting video became a tribute to one of the great genre film makers.
One of my all time cherished memories of Midnight Madness was in 2009 writing an inscription for an award presented to George A. Romero celebrating his recent Canadian citizenship and subsequently meeting him after the ceremony.
The inscription on the C.N. Tower being clutched by a zombie hand reads as such, "In recognition of the Canadian citzenship of George A. Romero, his status as a Torontonian and his efforts to bridge the understanding between the living and undead through the cinematic arts September 12, 2009." It still amazes me that words I wrote reside in the home of Mr. Romero.
Here is the video we shot of the ceremony in Yonge and Dundas square in downtown Toronto.
One of the things that make the Midnight Madness programme so special is watching the emergence of amazing talent emerge upon the world stage. There have been many, the amazing screening of Ong-Bak in 2003 immediatley comes to mind. As I have said before not many can lay claim to seeing the first screen appereance of Bruce Lee but myself and my fellow film goers sitting in the long gone but not forgotten UpTown cinema at Yonge and Bloor saw the emergence of Tony Jaa. Last year Midnight Madness attendees witnessed the makers of one of the best action films in a decade arrive on the scene of world cinema. Not many knew the names of Gareth Evans, Iko Uwais and Joe Taslim but I am sure many people will know who these very talented folks are ten years from now. Here is my video from the 2011 World Premiere of The Raid.
The 2012 edition of the Midnight Madness program at The Toronto International Film Festival is about to heat up. Here is a link to the ten films that will be rocking the Ryerson theater in September. LINK. There will be many more stories, great memories and cinematic thrills.
Here is a link to the home of the old Midnight Blog with my posts. LINK.
Here is the link to the current Midnight Madness at TIFF Blog which will be heating up for the 2012 program. LINK
One of my favorite genres in film is the action film. Nothing beats a high speed chase through city streets, a gun battle, the odd explosion, perhaps a fight in which one dude fights five other dudes. In short, nothing gets the heart rate up and you on the edge of your seat faster then an amazing jaw-dropping action sequence.
If you have not heard there is a new festival that more then appreciates a good action film, ActionFest - The festival with a body count. ActionFest marked it's inaugural year last year. The festival takes place in beautiful Asheville, NC and this year falls on April 7-10, 2011.
What is also amazing about ActionFest is that this years profits, all 100% of them will be going to the Chuck Norris' Foundation Kickstart Kids. ActionFest will donate 100% of this year’s profits to the charity and attendees will have the opportunity to make individual donations as well. Giving a child hope is one thing, but teaching them to find the strength inside themselves to overcome adversity is the greatest adventure of all.
I am also quite honored to announce that I am one of a great team of contributors to the recently launched ActionFest Blog. The blog with a body count. You can check out the blog here. I hope to see you in Asheville this upcoming April.
