This November 11th will be the third year of The Florida State University Student Veteran Film Festival (Svff) . For the past three years I have been asked to be the executive advisor to this initiative to provide opportunity to curate on behalf of the College Of Motion Picture Arts, and at the request of my Dean Frank Patterson and the University President, Dr. Eric Barron, in support of our Student Veterans the annual featured motion picture presentation. This initiative provides a platform, utilizing cinema to engage conversation surrounding issues facing our returning student veterans returning from their service. The Collegiate Veterans Association leaders created the concept for this festival, and I have had the honor to participate in the opportunity. As the Executive Director of the Florida State University College of Motion Picture ArtsTorchlight Program, and Executive Advisor to the Fsu Svff, I have been able to merge my independent film industry background with educational opportunities at the University with the vision of expanding learning opportunities through cinema.
In year one the film selected to present was ”Hell and Back Again”, directed by Danfung Dennis, which went on to be nominated for an Oscar in 2011. Year two the Svff presented “The Invisible War”, directed by Kirby Dick, which went on to be nominated for the Oscar in 2012. Fsu President Eric Barron created an award that year to honor Kirby Dick for his filmmaking, the Fsu Student Veteran Torchlight Award (described in the material provided). This year, the award will be presented to Sebastian Junger for his documentary, "Which Way Is The Front Line From Here? The Life And Time of Tim Hetherington".
The Collegiate Veterans Association at Florida State University is one of the most universally known and well-respected student veteran groups in the nation. The university, the administration, and the student body have joined together in an effort to make Florida State University one of the most veteran friendly public universities, in the nation. Inherent in this goal is our effort to raise awareness and promote veteran’s issues. The Student Veteran Film Festival is one of our primary vehicles for achieving these goals.
The Student Veteran Film Festival is an annual event at the Florida State University that highlights veteran issues on campus, in the local community, and nationally. This event has a proud tradition of elegance, prestige, and creation of intense dialogue between filmmakers, students, and veterans.
The education and awareness that this event has been able to cultivate for issues such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Military Sexual Trauma has been both significant and impactful. The inaugural event showcased the film ”Hell and Back Again” with the following year hosting “The Invisible War”. The nature of these films show that our student veterans are not afraid of having difficult conversations and are serious about impacting real, meaningful, change.
Third Annual Student Veteran Film Festival To Feature Award-winning Author And Film Director Sebastian Junger
Tallahassee – Florida State University students will bring award-winning author and filmmaker Sebastian Junger and his critically acclaimed documentary film “Which Way is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Times of Tim Hetherington” to the 3rd Annual Student Veteran Film Festival on Monday, Nov. 11.
A collaborative effort among the Collegiate Veterans Association , Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Association and College of Motion Picture Arts, the event will feature a discussion with Junger about the film, which traces Hetherington’s work across the world's battlefields to reveal what made him such a singular talent — and remarkable human being. The film also illuminates the incredible risks combat journalists face, at a time when they are dying with greater frequency in war zones.
“We are proud to screen this acclaimed film and host an event that facilitates discussion about what life is like in war-torn parts of the world, which Tim Hetherington captured so movingly through his images,” said Ryan Taylor, president of the Fsu Collegiate Veterans Association.
Junger is a bestselling author (“The Perfect Storm,” “War”) who, with Hetherington, co-directed “Restrepo,” an Academy Award nominated documentary about an American combat outpost in Afghanistan.
Junger will also receive the “Fsu Student Veteran Torchlight Award for Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking” following the screening of the film. The award, which comes with a $25,000 honorarium, is given annually to a filmmaker who illuminates issues affecting veterans.
"As part of Florida State’s commitment to become the most veteran-friendly university in the nation, we are recognizing filmmakers who explore issues that affect military service members, veterans and their families,” said Fsu President Eric J. Barron. “I am pleased to honor Sebastian Junger with this award for his poignant tribute to Tim Hetherington."
The film festival is intended to raise awareness of student-veterans’ issues and bridge the gap between veterans and the community. Paul Cohen, director of the College of Motion Picture Arts’ Torchlight program, secured the rights to screen “Which Way is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Times of Tim Hetherington.” The film, telecast and distributed by HBO, was screened at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.
The Student Veteran Film Festival will take place:
Monday, Nov. 11
3 – 7:30 P.M.
Ruby Diamond Concert Hall
222 S. Copeland St.
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Fla.
Student Veteran Film Festival website – http://vetfilmfest.fsu.edu Svff page on the Student Veterans Center website – http://veterans.fsu.edu/Student-Veteran-Film-Festival (As mentioned, the story on this page will be replaced by the news release, once its been finalized by the Communications office.) Svff Tickets – http://tickets.fsu.edu Ruby Diamond Concert Hall - http://tickets.fsu.edu/Venue-Information/Ruby-Diamond-Concert-Hall...
In year one the film selected to present was ”Hell and Back Again”, directed by Danfung Dennis, which went on to be nominated for an Oscar in 2011. Year two the Svff presented “The Invisible War”, directed by Kirby Dick, which went on to be nominated for the Oscar in 2012. Fsu President Eric Barron created an award that year to honor Kirby Dick for his filmmaking, the Fsu Student Veteran Torchlight Award (described in the material provided). This year, the award will be presented to Sebastian Junger for his documentary, "Which Way Is The Front Line From Here? The Life And Time of Tim Hetherington".
The Collegiate Veterans Association at Florida State University is one of the most universally known and well-respected student veteran groups in the nation. The university, the administration, and the student body have joined together in an effort to make Florida State University one of the most veteran friendly public universities, in the nation. Inherent in this goal is our effort to raise awareness and promote veteran’s issues. The Student Veteran Film Festival is one of our primary vehicles for achieving these goals.
The Student Veteran Film Festival is an annual event at the Florida State University that highlights veteran issues on campus, in the local community, and nationally. This event has a proud tradition of elegance, prestige, and creation of intense dialogue between filmmakers, students, and veterans.
The education and awareness that this event has been able to cultivate for issues such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Military Sexual Trauma has been both significant and impactful. The inaugural event showcased the film ”Hell and Back Again” with the following year hosting “The Invisible War”. The nature of these films show that our student veterans are not afraid of having difficult conversations and are serious about impacting real, meaningful, change.
Third Annual Student Veteran Film Festival To Feature Award-winning Author And Film Director Sebastian Junger
Tallahassee – Florida State University students will bring award-winning author and filmmaker Sebastian Junger and his critically acclaimed documentary film “Which Way is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Times of Tim Hetherington” to the 3rd Annual Student Veteran Film Festival on Monday, Nov. 11.
A collaborative effort among the Collegiate Veterans Association , Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Association and College of Motion Picture Arts, the event will feature a discussion with Junger about the film, which traces Hetherington’s work across the world's battlefields to reveal what made him such a singular talent — and remarkable human being. The film also illuminates the incredible risks combat journalists face, at a time when they are dying with greater frequency in war zones.
“We are proud to screen this acclaimed film and host an event that facilitates discussion about what life is like in war-torn parts of the world, which Tim Hetherington captured so movingly through his images,” said Ryan Taylor, president of the Fsu Collegiate Veterans Association.
Junger is a bestselling author (“The Perfect Storm,” “War”) who, with Hetherington, co-directed “Restrepo,” an Academy Award nominated documentary about an American combat outpost in Afghanistan.
Junger will also receive the “Fsu Student Veteran Torchlight Award for Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking” following the screening of the film. The award, which comes with a $25,000 honorarium, is given annually to a filmmaker who illuminates issues affecting veterans.
"As part of Florida State’s commitment to become the most veteran-friendly university in the nation, we are recognizing filmmakers who explore issues that affect military service members, veterans and their families,” said Fsu President Eric J. Barron. “I am pleased to honor Sebastian Junger with this award for his poignant tribute to Tim Hetherington."
The film festival is intended to raise awareness of student-veterans’ issues and bridge the gap between veterans and the community. Paul Cohen, director of the College of Motion Picture Arts’ Torchlight program, secured the rights to screen “Which Way is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Times of Tim Hetherington.” The film, telecast and distributed by HBO, was screened at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.
The Student Veteran Film Festival will take place:
Monday, Nov. 11
3 – 7:30 P.M.
Ruby Diamond Concert Hall
222 S. Copeland St.
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Fla.
Student Veteran Film Festival website – http://vetfilmfest.fsu.edu Svff page on the Student Veterans Center website – http://veterans.fsu.edu/Student-Veteran-Film-Festival (As mentioned, the story on this page will be replaced by the news release, once its been finalized by the Communications office.) Svff Tickets – http://tickets.fsu.edu Ruby Diamond Concert Hall - http://tickets.fsu.edu/Venue-Information/Ruby-Diamond-Concert-Hall...
- 11/11/2013
- by Paul Cohen
- Sydney's Buzz
In "Flushed Away", Aardman Features, the U.K.-based cartoon studio that has achieved world renown for its stop-motion animation, jumps daringly and with great success into a brand new style.
The movie, a wonderfully chaotic affair nimbly directed by David Bowers and Sam Fell, is entirely computer animated yet retains the Aardman "look" as the characters are designed as if they were plasticine puppets with the expressive brows and exaggerated mouths one associates with its films. Collaborating with DreamWorks Animation, for whom the studio already has made "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" and "Chicken Run", Aardman has turned out a gloriously droll comic adventure that combines British wit with Yankee exuberance.
There is no age limit to this movie, which might need multiple viewings to catch all the background gags and snappy one-liners that rush at the viewer with a vaudevillian sense of gleeful anarchy. "Flushed Away" appears primed to make the cartoon studios and Paramount flush with money.
Roddy St. James (Hugh Jackman in full Roddy McDowell form) is a pampered pet mouse in the posh Kensington neighborhood of London. His space is invaded by a lower-class sewer rat named Sid (Shane Richie), while his family is on holiday. Roddy's scheme to lure his rival for the pleasures of the household into a toilet for a "whirlpool bath" backfires when Sid, wise to the ploy, flushes Roddy down instead.
Roddy winds up underground in an alternate version of London, comprised of discarded items that replicate well-known landmarks and teeming with mice, rats, frogs and slugs. Almost immediately, Roddy gets embroiled in the nefarious misadventures of a red-headed tomboy rodent named Rita. Kate Winslet takes that name to heart, giving the character a hip London accent and the confident street smarts that remind you of many of Rita Tushingham's roles in British films from the 1960s.
Rita captains her own sewer boat called the Jammy Dodger, aboard which a gas can serves as a cabin, water tap for a helm and green tennis balls for side bumpers. Rita is locked in mortal combat with the villainous Toad (Ian McKellen), who hopes to rid his world of rodents yet employs two as his henchrats, the all-talk-little-action Spike (Andy Serkis) and a haulking albino rat named Whitey (Bill Nighy).
A struggle over a Ruby Diamond devolves into a battle for a piece of cable Toad needs to fulfill his dastardly plan to wipe out the cheese-eating underground population. When his henchrats come up empty, Toad calls on his cousin Le Frog (a hilarious Jean Reno), a French mercenary who means business but only after a five-hour dinner.
A wild river chase through the sewers is the film's highlight, but really once Roddy gets flushed underground the action is more or less nonstop.
Sound effects and music play key roles in the comedy. Noises and sounds are familiar yet spring from unexpected sources. Song cues drift in from singing slugs. These colorful, tiny, blob-like creatures burst into pop songs that comment deliciously on the action, joining in with Roddy at one point in serenading Rita. They come very close to stealing the picture from the rodent heroes.
In truth, all the characters are brilliantly conceived both in terms of their physical form and their strong personalities, from which rich comedy is developed by writers Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Chris Lloyd, Joe Keenan and Will Davies (from a story by Fell, Peter Lord, Clement and La Frenais).
The characters are not as elastic as is typical in CG or, for that matter, even old-fashioned cel animation. The figures are designed to move and behave as if they were made of clay, wood and paint. They pose and use facial expressions with a heavy emphasis on the Aardman trademark of brows and mouths.
The backgrounds, witty takes on the contemporary human world, are colorful and meticulous in detail. Harry Gregson-Williams' rollicking score gives a huge lift to all the comedy.
The movie, a wonderfully chaotic affair nimbly directed by David Bowers and Sam Fell, is entirely computer animated yet retains the Aardman "look" as the characters are designed as if they were plasticine puppets with the expressive brows and exaggerated mouths one associates with its films. Collaborating with DreamWorks Animation, for whom the studio already has made "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" and "Chicken Run", Aardman has turned out a gloriously droll comic adventure that combines British wit with Yankee exuberance.
There is no age limit to this movie, which might need multiple viewings to catch all the background gags and snappy one-liners that rush at the viewer with a vaudevillian sense of gleeful anarchy. "Flushed Away" appears primed to make the cartoon studios and Paramount flush with money.
Roddy St. James (Hugh Jackman in full Roddy McDowell form) is a pampered pet mouse in the posh Kensington neighborhood of London. His space is invaded by a lower-class sewer rat named Sid (Shane Richie), while his family is on holiday. Roddy's scheme to lure his rival for the pleasures of the household into a toilet for a "whirlpool bath" backfires when Sid, wise to the ploy, flushes Roddy down instead.
Roddy winds up underground in an alternate version of London, comprised of discarded items that replicate well-known landmarks and teeming with mice, rats, frogs and slugs. Almost immediately, Roddy gets embroiled in the nefarious misadventures of a red-headed tomboy rodent named Rita. Kate Winslet takes that name to heart, giving the character a hip London accent and the confident street smarts that remind you of many of Rita Tushingham's roles in British films from the 1960s.
Rita captains her own sewer boat called the Jammy Dodger, aboard which a gas can serves as a cabin, water tap for a helm and green tennis balls for side bumpers. Rita is locked in mortal combat with the villainous Toad (Ian McKellen), who hopes to rid his world of rodents yet employs two as his henchrats, the all-talk-little-action Spike (Andy Serkis) and a haulking albino rat named Whitey (Bill Nighy).
A struggle over a Ruby Diamond devolves into a battle for a piece of cable Toad needs to fulfill his dastardly plan to wipe out the cheese-eating underground population. When his henchrats come up empty, Toad calls on his cousin Le Frog (a hilarious Jean Reno), a French mercenary who means business but only after a five-hour dinner.
A wild river chase through the sewers is the film's highlight, but really once Roddy gets flushed underground the action is more or less nonstop.
Sound effects and music play key roles in the comedy. Noises and sounds are familiar yet spring from unexpected sources. Song cues drift in from singing slugs. These colorful, tiny, blob-like creatures burst into pop songs that comment deliciously on the action, joining in with Roddy at one point in serenading Rita. They come very close to stealing the picture from the rodent heroes.
In truth, all the characters are brilliantly conceived both in terms of their physical form and their strong personalities, from which rich comedy is developed by writers Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Chris Lloyd, Joe Keenan and Will Davies (from a story by Fell, Peter Lord, Clement and La Frenais).
The characters are not as elastic as is typical in CG or, for that matter, even old-fashioned cel animation. The figures are designed to move and behave as if they were made of clay, wood and paint. They pose and use facial expressions with a heavy emphasis on the Aardman trademark of brows and mouths.
The backgrounds, witty takes on the contemporary human world, are colorful and meticulous in detail. Harry Gregson-Williams' rollicking score gives a huge lift to all the comedy.
- 10/17/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In Flushed Away, Aardman Features, the U.K.-based cartoon studio that has achieved world renown for its stop-motion animation, jumps daringly and with great success into a brand new style.
The movie, a wonderfully chaotic affair nimbly directed by David Bowers and Sam Fell, is entirely computer animated yet retains the Aardman "look" as the characters are designed as if they were plasticine puppets with the expressive brows and exaggerated mouths one associates with its films. Collaborating with DreamWorks Animation, for whom the studio already has made "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" and Chicken Run, Aardman has turned out a gloriously droll comic adventure that combines British wit with Yankee exuberance.
There is no age limit to this movie, which might need multiple viewings to catch all the background gags and snappy one-liners that rush at the viewer with a vaudevillian sense of gleeful anarchy. Flushed Away appears primed to make the cartoon studios and Paramount flush with money.
Roddy St. James (Hugh Jackman in full Roddy McDowell form) is a pampered pet mouse in the posh Kensington neighborhood of London. His space is invaded by a lower-class sewer rat named Sid (Shane Richie), while his family is on holiday. Roddy's scheme to lure his rival for the pleasures of the household into a toilet for a "whirlpool bath" backfires when Sid, wise to the ploy, flushes Roddy down instead.
Roddy winds up underground in an alternate version of London, comprised of discarded items that replicate well-known landmarks and teeming with mice, rats, frogs and slugs. Almost immediately, Roddy gets embroiled in the nefarious misadventures of a red-headed tomboy rodent named Rita. Kate Winslet takes that name to heart, giving the character a hip London accent and the confident street smarts that remind you of many of Rita Tushingham's roles in British films from the 1960s.
Rita captains her own sewer boat called the Jammy Dodger, aboard which a gas can serves as a cabin, water tap for a helm and green tennis balls for side bumpers. Rita is locked in mortal combat with the villainous Toad (Ian McKellen), who hopes to rid his world of rodents yet employs two as his henchrats, the all-talk-little-action Spike (Andy Serkis) and a haulking albino rat named Whitey (Bill Nighy).
A struggle over a Ruby Diamond devolves into a battle for a piece of cable Toad needs to fulfill his dastardly plan to wipe out the cheese-eating underground population. When his henchrats come up empty, Toad calls on his cousin Le Frog (a hilarious Jean Reno), a French mercenary who means business but only after a five-hour dinner.
A wild river chase through the sewers is the film's highlight, but really once Roddy gets flushed underground the action is more or less nonstop.
Sound effects and music play key roles in the comedy. Noises and sounds are familiar yet spring from unexpected sources. Song cues drift in from singing slugs. These colorful, tiny, blob-like creatures burst into pop songs that comment deliciously on the action, joining in with Roddy at one point in serenading Rita. They come very close to stealing the picture from the rodent heroes.
In truth, all the characters are brilliantly conceived both in terms of their physical form and their strong personalities, from which rich comedy is developed by writers Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Chris Lloyd, Joe Keenan and Will Davies (from a story by Fell, Peter Lord, Clement and La Frenais).
The characters are not as elastic as is typical in CG or, for that matter, even old-fashioned cel animation. The figures are designed to move and behave as if they were made of clay, wood and paint. They pose and use facial expressions with a heavy emphasis on the Aardman trademark of brows and mouths.
The backgrounds, witty takes on the contemporary human world, are colorful and meticulous in detail. Harry Gregson-Williams' rollicking score gives a huge lift to all the comedy.
FLUSHED AWAY
Paramount Pictures
DreamWorks Animation/Aardman Features
Credits:
Directors: David Bowers, Sam Fell
Screenwriters: Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Chris Lloyd, Joe Keenan, Will Davies
Story: Sam Fell, Peter Lord, Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais
Producers: Cecil Kramer, Peter Lord, David Sproxton
Co-producer: Maryann Garger
Visual effects supervisor: Wendy Rogers
Production designer: David A.S. James
Art directors: Pierre-Olivier Vincent, Scott Wills
Music: Harry Gregson-Williams
Head character animator: Jeff Newitt
Editor: John Venzon
Cast:
Roddy: Hugh Jackman
Rita: Kate Winslet
Toad: Ian McKellen
Le Frog: Jean Reno
Whitey: Bill Nighy
Spike: Andy Serkis
Sid: Shane Richie
Running time -- 85 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
The movie, a wonderfully chaotic affair nimbly directed by David Bowers and Sam Fell, is entirely computer animated yet retains the Aardman "look" as the characters are designed as if they were plasticine puppets with the expressive brows and exaggerated mouths one associates with its films. Collaborating with DreamWorks Animation, for whom the studio already has made "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" and Chicken Run, Aardman has turned out a gloriously droll comic adventure that combines British wit with Yankee exuberance.
There is no age limit to this movie, which might need multiple viewings to catch all the background gags and snappy one-liners that rush at the viewer with a vaudevillian sense of gleeful anarchy. Flushed Away appears primed to make the cartoon studios and Paramount flush with money.
Roddy St. James (Hugh Jackman in full Roddy McDowell form) is a pampered pet mouse in the posh Kensington neighborhood of London. His space is invaded by a lower-class sewer rat named Sid (Shane Richie), while his family is on holiday. Roddy's scheme to lure his rival for the pleasures of the household into a toilet for a "whirlpool bath" backfires when Sid, wise to the ploy, flushes Roddy down instead.
Roddy winds up underground in an alternate version of London, comprised of discarded items that replicate well-known landmarks and teeming with mice, rats, frogs and slugs. Almost immediately, Roddy gets embroiled in the nefarious misadventures of a red-headed tomboy rodent named Rita. Kate Winslet takes that name to heart, giving the character a hip London accent and the confident street smarts that remind you of many of Rita Tushingham's roles in British films from the 1960s.
Rita captains her own sewer boat called the Jammy Dodger, aboard which a gas can serves as a cabin, water tap for a helm and green tennis balls for side bumpers. Rita is locked in mortal combat with the villainous Toad (Ian McKellen), who hopes to rid his world of rodents yet employs two as his henchrats, the all-talk-little-action Spike (Andy Serkis) and a haulking albino rat named Whitey (Bill Nighy).
A struggle over a Ruby Diamond devolves into a battle for a piece of cable Toad needs to fulfill his dastardly plan to wipe out the cheese-eating underground population. When his henchrats come up empty, Toad calls on his cousin Le Frog (a hilarious Jean Reno), a French mercenary who means business but only after a five-hour dinner.
A wild river chase through the sewers is the film's highlight, but really once Roddy gets flushed underground the action is more or less nonstop.
Sound effects and music play key roles in the comedy. Noises and sounds are familiar yet spring from unexpected sources. Song cues drift in from singing slugs. These colorful, tiny, blob-like creatures burst into pop songs that comment deliciously on the action, joining in with Roddy at one point in serenading Rita. They come very close to stealing the picture from the rodent heroes.
In truth, all the characters are brilliantly conceived both in terms of their physical form and their strong personalities, from which rich comedy is developed by writers Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Chris Lloyd, Joe Keenan and Will Davies (from a story by Fell, Peter Lord, Clement and La Frenais).
The characters are not as elastic as is typical in CG or, for that matter, even old-fashioned cel animation. The figures are designed to move and behave as if they were made of clay, wood and paint. They pose and use facial expressions with a heavy emphasis on the Aardman trademark of brows and mouths.
The backgrounds, witty takes on the contemporary human world, are colorful and meticulous in detail. Harry Gregson-Williams' rollicking score gives a huge lift to all the comedy.
FLUSHED AWAY
Paramount Pictures
DreamWorks Animation/Aardman Features
Credits:
Directors: David Bowers, Sam Fell
Screenwriters: Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Chris Lloyd, Joe Keenan, Will Davies
Story: Sam Fell, Peter Lord, Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais
Producers: Cecil Kramer, Peter Lord, David Sproxton
Co-producer: Maryann Garger
Visual effects supervisor: Wendy Rogers
Production designer: David A.S. James
Art directors: Pierre-Olivier Vincent, Scott Wills
Music: Harry Gregson-Williams
Head character animator: Jeff Newitt
Editor: John Venzon
Cast:
Roddy: Hugh Jackman
Rita: Kate Winslet
Toad: Ian McKellen
Le Frog: Jean Reno
Whitey: Bill Nighy
Spike: Andy Serkis
Sid: Shane Richie
Running time -- 85 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
- 10/16/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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