Flix Premiere Close Up Magazine - September 2019

June 2019

Close-Up

1

TABLE OF CONTENTS Welcome Readers: The purpose of this magazine is to share with our movie-goers, the industry and our partners updates about what is happening at Flix Premiere each month. We aim to highlight and explore the upcoming month’s film premieres in each market, and occasionally announce new developments on our platform.

Happy reading!

Ha lfw ay

Daw n

Al l Th at I Am

IN THIS ISSUE: September Premieres Snapshot Learn about our exclusive new premieres showing each week.

US September Premieres Snapshot - pg. 3

Cast No Shad ow

UK September Premieres Snapshot - pg. 4

Close Up: Premieres Feature Reviews A chance to immerse yourself in the wonderful stories premiering each week.

All That I Am - Christopher Abbott, Gaby Hoffmann, Dan Bittner, Jacinta Puga - pg. 5 Dawn - Joel Basman, Moris Cohen, Sarah Adler, Liron Levo, Rami Heuberger - pg. 6 Halfway - Quinton Aaron, Marcus Henderson, Amy Pietz, Jeffrey DeMunn - pg. 7 Occupy, Texas - Gene Gallerano, Peri Gilpin, Janine Turner, Reed Birney, Lorelei Linklater - pg. 8 Cast No Shadow - Percy Hynes White, Joel Thomas Hynes, Mary Colin-Chisholm, Stephen Lush - pg. 9

HOME OF AWARD-WINNING CINEMA AND MORE

US PREMIERE

“Joel Basman is amazing as the fragile and innocent Elisha.”

September 13, 2019 - 7pm EDT

Amos Lassen, Reviews by Amos Lassen

Elisha learns that he must kill a captain in the British Army.

Will Elisha, a survivor of the holocaust, be able to commit such an act?

WATCH ON

Apple TV

Amazon Fire

iOS, Android, Web

ChromeCast

Roku

Smart TVs

“Hynes-White is compelling, a kid whose smallish stature and delicate features belie the rage he holds within.”

Norman Wilner, Now Toronto

US PREMIERE

September 27, 2019 - 7pm EDT Young Jude Traynor struggles to navigate a harsh life in a rugged seaside town, blending reality with his vivid imagination.

www.flixpremiere.com

A 17-year-old student finds an unlikely lifeline in her disabled therapist after a sexual transgression.

3

US PREMIERES SNAPSHOT

Starring: Christopher Abbott, Gaby Hoffmann, Dan Bittner, Jacinta Puga

SEPTEMBER 6, 2019 - 7PM EDT

Starring: Joel Basman, Moris Cohen, Sarah Adler, Liron Levo, Rami Heuberger

SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 - 7PM EDT

Starring: Gene Gallerano, Peri Gilpin, Janine Turner, Reed Birney, Lorelei Linklater

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019 - 7PM EDT

Starring: Percy Hynes White, Joel Thomas Hynes, Mary Colin-Chisholm, Stephen Lush

SEPTEMBER 27, 2019 - 7PM EDT

4

UK PREMIERES SNAPSHOT

Starring: Christopher Abbott, Gaby Hoffmann, Dan Bittner, Jacinta Puga

SEPTEMBER 7, 2019 - 7PM BST

Starring: Quinton Aaron, Marcus Henderson, Jeffrey DeMunn, Amy Pietz

SEPTEMBER 14, 2019 - 7PM BST

Starring: Gene Gallerano, Peri Gilpin, Janine Turner, Reed Birney, Lorelei Linklater

SEPTEMBER 21, 2019 - 7PM BST

Starring: Percy Hynes White, Joel Thomas Hynes, Mary Colin-Chisholm, Stephen Lush

SEPTEMBER 28, 2019 - 7PM BST

All That I Am

85

Close Up: Premiere Feature Review US Premiere SEPTEMBER 6 - 7PM EDT UK Premiere SEPTEMBER 7 - 7PM BST

A

voiceover plays over a blank screen. It is that of a man, a contrite one, reading a letter to estranged kin. He sounds sorrowful and proud, in equal parts. The screen flickers to life, showing his son, Christian (Christopher Abbott), a struggling 30-something writer pouring over a passage on his computer screen. It turns out that the voiceover is that of Dr. Lynn (Christoper McCann), a father who abandoned his family once his wife began a terminal illness, and that he has, unexpectedly, decided to visit his sons, Christian and Win (Dan Bittner) and daughter Susan (Gaby Hoffman).

In this extraordinary and heartfelt drama, All That I Am, things with the family have been tense lately, even without Dr. Lynn’s arrival. Christian has been struggling with drug addiction and has shrugged off his family’s efforts to help with his life and career, worsening the already strained relationship. And as Dr. Lynn tries to reconcile with his family, they learn something new about each other.

Director Carlos Puga has enlisted an extraordinary cast, including the phenomenal Christoper Abbott (It Comes at Night) who delivers a masterclass performance, bringing nuance and sensitivity to the struggling

Winner of SXSW’s Special Jury Prize for Best Ensemble, the cast here all turn in excellent performances.

David Tran, PopOptiq

Christian. His character is in many ways the lynchpin of the family, holding everyone else together, and acting as a harbinger of hope for reconciliation. Dan Bittner and Gaby Hoffman deliver definitative and deeply affecting performances while also serving as foils to Christian: Susan is a perfect picture of devoted motherhood, and Win possesses grace and responsibility. Christian, on the other hand, seems to flounder through life, writing, and romantic relationships.

The cinematography is also gorgeous and sweeping. Watching All That I Am feels languid

and luxurious: time moves slowly so that the viewer can delight in consuming the images on-screen, and in studying the characters and their idiosyncrasies.

Director Carlos Puga succeeds at the helm, bringing order and making meaning out of each and every detail. Part of what feels lasting and timeless about the film is the characters. They will remain in the viewers’ minds long after the credits have rolled, in part because of how successfully Puga brings out the actors’ best performances. Visceral, whip smart, and visually stunning, All That I Am cannot be missed, especially for those who love and live by the genre of family drama.

Dawn

6

Close Up: Premiere Feature Review US Premiere SEPTEMBER 13 - 7PM EDT

T

wo militants, a young man, and their commander hide out in a dark abandoned building with a prisoner held captive in the basement. A clandestine Zionist cell operates in British-controlled Palestine in 1947.

One of their own has been captured, and so they’ve retaliated by seizing an English officer. If their comrade is executed at Dawn, they will respond in kind.

A huis-clos dramatic thriller, Dawn is adapted from the novel of the same name by the recently deceased Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel. A test of psychological endurance, the young Elisha must decide his commitment to the cause of the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine. To what lengths will he go to further their fight? Is he ready and willing to kill? And, if so, can he survive the haunting memories of his own dead, from the concentration camps, in the process?

Dawn probes the complexities of war and the struggle for survival via this microcosm of rebel freedom fighters. It interrogates the role and possibility of love and friendship in times of conflict, and begs the question of what is and should be considered normal to the embattled. Elisha becomes emblematic of the threat of innocence lost for a people victimized in what is, perhaps, history’s most gruesome genocide. His hesitation to reproduce violence against his oppressors, and the

The members of the cast are subtle, disturbing, disturbed and refined. We do not often get this caliber of acting from an entire ensemble.

Amos Lassen, Reviews by Amos Lassen

Wyder takes us into the intricacies of a situation that seems never-ending: where freedom and oppression are two sides of the same issue.

Amos Lassen, Reviews by Amos Lassen

uncertainty of how he will decide his course of action take on an immense symbolic weight.

Director Romed Wyder has produced a captivating recreation of Wiesel’s novel, full of suspense and dramatic tension. The darkly lit tight quarters of the gang conveys the impression of claustrophobia, even as the stakes of their operation become ever higher and more apparent. Actor Joel Basman offers a stellar performance as Elisha, paradoxically endowing him with both a youthful air of innocence and the weight of traumatic experience. Sarah Adler plays opposite him as the elusive Ilana, who serves as the voice of the resistance over

the radio. Impervious to emotion and unafraid to use the power of seduction to further the goals of the rebels, she represents an unwavering and steely cold commitment to the cause. A love triangle between her, Elisha, and the commander Gad–masterfully played by Liron Levo–avoids cliché and offers a genuine impression of pain and regret.

Overall, the film is driven by its talented cast who keep the action moving along even as they are held in confined quarters.

Dawn is a thoughtful and entertaining look at the often-unconsidered cold realities of war. Be sure to see it on Flix Premiere this month!

Halfway

87

Close Up: Premiere Feature Review UK Premiere SEPTEMBER 14 - 7PM BST

W

hen Byron (Quinton Aaron) is released from prison on parole his job options and social prospects are limited. As an African American man deemed a felon, with obligations to check in weekly with the law, few employers are lining up to give him a fair shake at a new life. In what appears to be an act of charity, his stepbrother has arranged for a live-in position on his aunt’s Wisconsin farm.

Hailing from the city, Byron is slow to adapt to the “green acres” lifestyle.

Since even the baby calves spook him during their feeding time, Aunt Beth quickly grows exasperated by her new employee, fearing that he may be more of a burden than a help during a difficult moment for the family estate.

As if these work problems were not enough, the predominately white locals are intrinsically distrusting when not outright hostile toward people of color. And the old crime bosses from the city he used to call home are circling in to call Byron back for favors that could quickly land him back in jail.

Caught somewhere between childhood and adulthood, the city and countryside, and a life of criminal recidivism and genuine reform, Byron finds himself stuck Halfway between hope and despair. Will he be able to breakthrough these obstacles and carve out a new and better life for himself?

Aaron's performance is beautifully judged: quiet, unobtrusive but absorbing.

Jennie Kermode, Eye for Film

An impressive first film from Caird Steven Neish, HeyUGuys

Halfway is a contemplative and deliberately paced drama that paints a stark portrait of the effects of systemic racism in the American criminal justice system, just as it frames such injustice within broader problems of social prejudice and general economic anxieties.

Delivering a representation of Byron’s path steeped in realism, and immersed in a rural setting that offers little optimism to its inhabitants of any background, breakthrough director Ben Caird successfully challenges the problem of racial inequality in the US within a narrative of personal development and redemption found in the most unlikely of places.

Quinton Aaron offers both a remarkable and restrained performance as Byron. A sort of gentle giant, conspicuously misplaced in his new surroundings, Byron’s presence emanates

a genuineness and an authentic aura of fatigue under the burden of so many factors weighed against his flourishing. Particularly touching is the quiet friendship he strikes up with his older neighbor, from a bordering property, played by Jeffrey DeMunn. Amy Pietz delivers another stirring performance as an increasingly-desperate but always resilient Aunt Beth.

Halfway is a different kind of coming of age drama, telling a type of story that Hollywood has always hesitated to tell. The film does so in a realistic style that Hollywood could never embrace. Watch it this month on Flix Premiere.

Occupy, Texas

98

Close Up: Premiere Feature Review US Premiere SEPTEMBER 20 - 7PM EDT UK Premiere SEPTEMBER 21 - 7PM BST

Y

oung Texan son Beau Baker never stopped occupying Wall Street.

Seven years after the movement, he still lives in a sleeping bag under a stoop in New York’s financial district. Or at least he does until his uncle retrieves him following the unexpected death of his parents.

Occupy, Texas follows Beau’s journey from life in the streets back to upper middle-class Dallas, where he has inherited his parent’s estate and the guardianship of two young sisters. Fasten your seatbelts, this is going to make for a wild ride! From negotiating homework, dating, and the basic upkeep of his family home with his siblings, to encountering old flings and remembrances of his former Texan life, Beau is entirely unprepared for a sudden return to society.

Gene Gallerano, who plays Beau, also penned the screenplay for the film.

He was inspired to do so when contact with Occupy Wall Street protestors in New York left him wondering – what comes next for the passionate members of this group when the movement dissolves? What will be the outlet for all of this intense energy? The result is a brilliant premise for a comedy, but one that manages to also be a reflection on grief, loss, and the deeper meaning of what it means to grow up and move on.

Gallerano is an unmistakable talent, and we look forward to more from him and director Barry Chris Knipp, Filmleaf.net

Elvir possess[es] a transparency and openness that brings Arden to life in ways that elevate Occupy,Texas above many similar films.

Richard Propes, The Independent Critic

Gallerano’s Beau is delightfully quirky and a recognizable archetype of alternative living. His talent is particularly well matched by Catherine Elvir, who plays his inquisitive, goofy, and vibrant younger sister, Arden. The two have a tender chemistry that balances fun playfulness and genuine sibling affection under atypical and strained circumstances. Lorelei Linklater plays a more brooding and aloof Claire. Frasier alumna and Texas native Peri Gilpin tops off the cast as Dallas society professional Aunt Uma, who is hell-bent on assuring that Beau

does not destroy his sisters’ chances at a normal life.

Shot primarily in Dallas, director Jeff Barry draws the audience into a familiar world of Texan manners and gossip, and shakes it up with exactly the kind of outsider it needs–one who was raised there.

Occupy, Texas is a charming film about the painful reconciliation of a rebel with their roots, and the possibility that everyone really can, one day, return home.

Cast No Shadow

89

Close Up: Premiere Feature Review US Premiere SEPTEMBER 27 - 7PM EDT UK Premiere SEPTEMBER 28 - 7PM BST

C

hildren fear monsters lurking in dark corners, under the bed, nightfall, and getting lost in dense woods. Are these anxieties purely irrational, sound byproducts of evolution, or inaccessible projections of the dark side of a cruel adult world? Cast No Shadow insists on no particular answer to these mysteries, but probes our childhood fears in a crisp fantasy drama with social relevance.

Jude (Percy Hynes-White) is an imaginative young troublemaker who is convinced a troll lurks in a coastal mountain grotto near his home.

Certain that such monsters can be bribed with gold, he collects a chest full of “treasures” painted in shiny ore in case of an emergency. But for all of his concern with supernatural horrors, Jude’s faces a set of very real troubles at home and in his local community. Living with an abusive father who is frequently in trouble with the law, and under intense scrutiny for his own youthful delinquency, Jude’s present and future look bleak. Only the eccentric Alfreda (Mary-Colin Chisholm), a widower who skips church and has a reputation as an old hag in the town, seems to take a genuine interest and concern in the boy. What escape is there from his fears, his pressing problems at such a young age?

Absolutely a must see film. There has never been anything quite like this Will Brownridge, The Film Reel

Cast No Shadow’s location shooting in Newfoundland is superb. From ocean vistas to dense forest and rolling plains, the landscapes add

Nominated for four Canadian Screen Awards, Cast No Shadow impresses...

Sparkes shows a confident hand as director, ensuring Hynes-White’s Jude swings naturally between cockiness and tender childlike moments that evoke sympathy, hinting at a lurking sweetness inside him.

Linda Barnard, The Star

beautiful rich depth to the film’s fantasy world.

Such a magical yet dark setting confronting a youth makes the film highly evocative of Guillermo Del Toro’s celebrated Pan’s Labyrinth.

So too does the agency and realism that the film grants Jude’s character while it manages brutal episodes of violence with deliberate and remarkably-timed gestures toward the fantastic. In other words, like Del Toro, director Christian Sparkes has the remarkable talent of representing harsh realities while creatively evoking youthful escapism.

Percy Hynes-White offers a tour de force performance as the unfortunate Jude. In the tradition of the best child actors, he channels a convincing and sympathetic rapscallion worthy of New Wave cinema. Mary-Colin Chisholm’s Alfreda is understated, empathetically moving, and entirely convincing. She deserves high praise for the role.

Overall, Cast No Shadow is a beautiful and moving film about the difficulties of childhood, dark fears and secrets, and the inner-battles we all must wage.

Do not miss out on Cast No Shadow.

HOME OF AWARD-WINNING CINEMA AND MORE

“An impressive first feature that shows maturity and insight.”

Jennie Kermode, Eye for Film

UK PREMIERE

September 14, 2019 - 7pm BST In this life changing story, a workaholic attorney is forced to reinvent Halfway is the story of a recently released convict who faces her life after her husband suddenly leaves. the conflict between his old criminal world and life on probation.

WATCH ON

Apple TV

Amazon Fire

iOS, Android, Web

ChromeCast

Roku

Smart TVs

“At times quirky and at times understatedly heartfelt, Occupy, Texas is a little gem of a film” Richard Propes, The Independent Critic

UK PREMIERE

September 21, 2019 - 7pm BST Beau, a washed-up Occupier, returns home after the death of his parents and has to take charge of his two teenage sisters and their estate.

www.flixpremiere.com

Home of Award-Winning Cinema and more

LONDON OFFICE

LOS ANGELES OFFICE

2nd Floor, Berkeley Square House, Berkeley Square, London W1J 6BD, UK

468 N Camden Drive, Suite 200, Beverly Hills, California 90210

T +44 2085 880618

T +1(310) 601 3168 Email:

General: info@flixpremiere.com Film Partners: partners@flixpremiere.com Press: press@flixpremiere.com www.flixpremiere.com

Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved