New Releases at globalcinema.online - May 16
NEW FILM RELEASES
DANCE, THE AUDITION
Feature Documentary | 52 min. | USA, Italy
Directed by: Jordan River
Choreographer Antonio Fini introduces the magical world of dance. Dancers’ careers are made of effort, sacrifice and difficulty. However, thanks to dancers’ bravery, as well as their will to learn and to give their best, they can reach a balance and achieve important goals.
The documentary presents an array of interviews and testimonies of personalities who have contributed to the dance world, including the director of the Michael Mao Dance of New York and the director of the Martha Graham Dance Company, the oldest and most famous modern dance company in the world.
ESPERANZA'S TURN
Short Film | 12 min. | USA
Written, Directed & Produced by: Melissa Gregory Rue
A 12-year-old immigrant farm worker taps into her imagination to confront a bully at school.
FILMS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
DAY OF THE WESTERN SUNRISE
Documentary | 75 min. | Japan
Directed by: Keith Reimink
23 Japanese fishermen aboard the tuna trawler Daigo Fukuryu Maru (Lucky Dragon No. 5) accidentally encounter the detonation of Castle Bravo, an early hydrogen bomb test conducted by the US. All 23 men became sick from acute radiation poisoning and were quarantined for 15 months. In the hospital, they endured endless medical tests and scrutiny from Japanese and American doctors.
In June of 1955, the 22 fishermen were sent home only to discover that they lost friends and loved ones and were openly ridiculed.
Day of the Western Sunrise is an animated Japanese language documentary that follows three survivors from the Lucky Dragon. Now in their 80's, their story is a reminder that the human race has the ability to make decisions for both good and ill, and those decisions can affect generations.
IF I COULD RUN
Feature Film | 80 min. | USA
Directed & Produced by: Shawn Welling
A young farm girl in the 1960's desperately wants to compete on the school boy's running team. Disappointments and setbacks face her. An abandoned, injured dog proves out to be her strength and courage. Together they set out to conquer this extremely difficult goal. A truly heartwarming and inspiring story.
Inspired by Don Miller’s True Life Experience:
"I wrote this story about my actual experience of being bullied in 1958/59. Shawn Welling loved it and we got together and produced the film. It is filmed in my town of Windsor, Vermont where the actual experience took place 60 years ago. I still live on the same farm.
I am hoping to get the message out that bullying is so terrible, but you can get through it. It’s effects, however, can be life-long, such as in my case, 60 years later, as I write my story in detail."
THE PORTRAIT
Film | 20 min. | UK
Directed by: Chris Forster
When a young art student paints a portrait of her grandfather, her mother Laura is forced to revisit family secrets she’d been trying to forget. Should she tell her daughter what she knows about him or spare her from the knowledge of his wartime past?
The film, starring Juliet Stevenson (Truly, Madly, Deeply) won “Best Short Film” at the BAFTA Cymru Awards
SPIZELLA
Film | 20 min. | Turkey
Written, Directed, Produced by: Mehmet T??l?
Spizella is the story of a father and his daughter who are dealing with troubled family relationships which have become even more troubled after the death of the mother.
The father keeps forcing his daughter to keep the mourning attitude alive and ongoing within the house whule he keeps his communication with her very limited.
DOWN RIVER
Documentary | 29 min. | Peru
Directed, Produced by: Flynn Donovan
In Down River, director Flynn Donovan follows a fishing crew in the Peruvian Amazon. What unfolds in this documentary is a richly textured human drama.
“I’ve had very good people along the way plus some luck… being in the right place at the right time is paramount. It’s something I can't explain but I know my instincts are very much awake”, says Flynn Donovan.