Prince Harry and Meghan Markle can’t hide their love!
Since they made their very first appearance together at the Invictus Games in September, the royal couple has held hands, rubbed each other’s backs and linked arms in public — moves almost never seen by Prince William and Kate Middleton.
The couple’s closeness was on display again during Meghan’s very first royal outing with her fiancé on Friday in Nottingham, about 125 miles north of London. They walked around holding hands and with their arms around each other as they greeted enthusiastic fans in the town center.
“While Prince Harry...
Since they made their very first appearance together at the Invictus Games in September, the royal couple has held hands, rubbed each other’s backs and linked arms in public — moves almost never seen by Prince William and Kate Middleton.
The couple’s closeness was on display again during Meghan’s very first royal outing with her fiancé on Friday in Nottingham, about 125 miles north of London. They walked around holding hands and with their arms around each other as they greeted enthusiastic fans in the town center.
“While Prince Harry...
- 12/1/2017
- by Erin Hill
- PEOPLE.com
Heidi Klum‘s boyfriend Vito Schnabel is setting the record straight.
After British tabloid published blurry photos of the 30-year-old art dealer allegedly kissing a mystery woman during a night out in London early Friday morning, Schnabel is clearing the air, explaining that it was an “innocent situation.”
“The claims that have been made are a misinterpretation of an entirely innocent situation,” Schnabel said in a statement to People. “There is nothing more to this than I was simply saying goodnight to a family friend and we went on our separate ways.
A source also tells People that there is...
After British tabloid published blurry photos of the 30-year-old art dealer allegedly kissing a mystery woman during a night out in London early Friday morning, Schnabel is clearing the air, explaining that it was an “innocent situation.”
“The claims that have been made are a misinterpretation of an entirely innocent situation,” Schnabel said in a statement to People. “There is nothing more to this than I was simply saying goodnight to a family friend and we went on our separate ways.
A source also tells People that there is...
- 6/24/2017
- by Katherine Richter and Sara Nathan
- PEOPLE.com
Robin of Locksley is going to be a dad — again!
Sean Maguire‘s rep confirms to People exclusively that the Once Upon a Time actor, 41, and his wife Tanya, a former police detective, are set to welcome their second son in December. (Son Flynn Patrick turns 2 next month.)
“This one’s just heard he’s getting a baby brother for Christmas … ” read a flyer featuring a photo of Flynn that the couple passed out to family and friends by way of announcement.
Want all the latest pregnancy and birth announcements, plus celebrity mom blogs? Click here to get those and...
Sean Maguire‘s rep confirms to People exclusively that the Once Upon a Time actor, 41, and his wife Tanya, a former police detective, are set to welcome their second son in December. (Son Flynn Patrick turns 2 next month.)
“This one’s just heard he’s getting a baby brother for Christmas … ” read a flyer featuring a photo of Flynn that the couple passed out to family and friends by way of announcement.
Want all the latest pregnancy and birth announcements, plus celebrity mom blogs? Click here to get those and...
- 6/23/2017
- by Jen Juneau
- PEOPLE.com
Bobbi Kristina Brown‘s former boyfriend Nick Gordon has been arrested for domestic battery and false imprisonment, Seminole County Sheriff’s office has confirmed to People.
TMZ first reported that Gordon was taken into custody in Sanford, Florida, after his current girlfriend, identified by the sheriff’s office as Laura Leil, filed a police report Saturday morning alleging Gordon had beaten her Friday night and held her in her home. The sheriff’s office confirmed the charges to People.
On Sunday, the sheriff’s office confirmed to People that Gordon’s bond was set at $15,500 — $500 for the domestic battery charge...
TMZ first reported that Gordon was taken into custody in Sanford, Florida, after his current girlfriend, identified by the sheriff’s office as Laura Leil, filed a police report Saturday morning alleging Gordon had beaten her Friday night and held her in her home. The sheriff’s office confirmed the charges to People.
On Sunday, the sheriff’s office confirmed to People that Gordon’s bond was set at $15,500 — $500 for the domestic battery charge...
- 6/11/2017
- by Ale Russian
- PEOPLE.com
Louis Tomlinson was arrested on Friday night after getting into a physical altercation with a photographer at Los Angeles International Airport.
The 25-year-old former One Direction singer was arriving at Lax with his girlfriend Eleanor Calder when he allegedly pushed a male paparazzo, who fell and and claimed he had injured himself.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Tomlinson was in the baggage claim area where he was “surrounded by paparazzi.” After “one of the paparazzi fell and he claimed he hurt himself,” Tomlinson was placed under citizen arrest.
The incident happened at 11:45 p.m. Pt, according to...
The 25-year-old former One Direction singer was arriving at Lax with his girlfriend Eleanor Calder when he allegedly pushed a male paparazzo, who fell and and claimed he had injured himself.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Tomlinson was in the baggage claim area where he was “surrounded by paparazzi.” After “one of the paparazzi fell and he claimed he hurt himself,” Tomlinson was placed under citizen arrest.
The incident happened at 11:45 p.m. Pt, according to...
- 3/4/2017
- by Dave Quinn
- PEOPLE.com
Robin Thicke has canceled an appearance during NHL All-Star weekend amid his contentious custody battle with ex-wife Paula Patton, a source confirms.
The singer was previously scheduled to honor his late father Alan Thicke at Friday’s NHL100 Gala.
Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky stepped in to fill Robin’s role.
“My friend Alan Thicke would have loved to be here tonight with so many of the great players that he admired. I am extremely honored to be included on this amazing list, I only wish that everyone of the players could have been here tonight,” Gretzky said onstage. “So with...
The singer was previously scheduled to honor his late father Alan Thicke at Friday’s NHL100 Gala.
Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky stepped in to fill Robin’s role.
“My friend Alan Thicke would have loved to be here tonight with so many of the great players that he admired. I am extremely honored to be included on this amazing list, I only wish that everyone of the players could have been here tonight,” Gretzky said onstage. “So with...
- 1/28/2017
- by karenmizoguchi
- PEOPLE.com
Michael Sheen is addressing a recent interview published by The Times of London, which claimed that Sheen said he was giving up Hollywood to become a political activist back in his native England.
“I did one interview with The Times of London a few weeks ago, parts of which (including a headline that is not a quote) have been picked up by a lot of other outlets. I did not declare that I’m ‘quitting acting and leaving Hollywood’ to go into politics,” Sheen, 47, said in a statement obtained by People.
He continued: “In the actual original interview I said...
“I did one interview with The Times of London a few weeks ago, parts of which (including a headline that is not a quote) have been picked up by a lot of other outlets. I did not declare that I’m ‘quitting acting and leaving Hollywood’ to go into politics,” Sheen, 47, said in a statement obtained by People.
He continued: “In the actual original interview I said...
- 12/18/2016
- by Blake Bakkila
- PEOPLE.com
Josh Brolin has found his real-life leading lady. The Oscar-nominated actor wed model Kathryn Boyd on Saturday, Brolin's rep confirms to People. They used the hashtag #JBKBStuckTogether to share photos from the bachelorette party, rehearsal dinner and the big day on social media. Last year, Brolin appeared on Today to share his hands-on approach to planning his nuptials, admitting he was helping his fiancée every step of the wedding planning process. "I like it, it's fun for me," the 48-year-old actor said. "I don't know, is that wrong because I'm a man?" he joked. Wonderful day showering our beautiful bride...
- 9/25/2016
- by Stephanie Petit, @stephpetit_
- PEOPLE.com
Khloé Kardashian and Tristan Thompson sure do love themselves a public make out! After getting caught on camera kissing at Drake's concert in Los Angeles on Sept. 9, the rumored couple smooched on Snapchat a week later while partying in Miami on Friday. The clip, posted to Kardashian's account, showed the 32-year-old reality star locking lips with the hunky 25-year-old NBA player in a club, while friends look on and cheer. Juvenile's 1998 party jam "Back That Ass Up" can be heard playing in the background - though it doesn't seem to distract the two from their kissing. Kardashian even pulls Thompson's...
- 9/17/2016
- by Dave Quinn, @NineDaves
- PEOPLE.com
Kim Kardashian nearly broke the Internet - again - when she posted a throwback photo of herself naked on Instagram earlier this year. While the reality star admitted that the snap is from 2015 ("a year ago & 25 lbs less!"), it wasn't long before the celebrity reactions poured in, with even Kim herself taking to social media to respond to the backlash over her nude body. It's likely that the world has not yet recovered from Kim's 2014 Paper magazine shoot, in which she revealed pretty much everything - and judging from the global response, you might think that this was the first time Kim publicly shed her clothes, but that is far from the case. Keep reading to see all the times Kim showed serious skin, including one photo shoot that caused her to vow to "never get naked again." (Spoiler: she did!) - Additional reporting by Maria Mercedes Lara...
- 9/16/2016
- by Brittney Stephens
- Popsugar.com
Mariah Carey's sister has been arrested on a prostitution charge in Saugerties, New York, according to the Daily Freeman. Alison Carey, 55, was reportedly arrested by police in an undercover investigation at an unidentified Saugerties hotel. A police officer reportedly posed as a client, and Alison was arrested after "soliciting money in exchange for sexual favors," according to the local newspaper. Saugerties Police Chief Joseph Sinagra told the paper that Alison told police she was related to the star and he described Alison as "transient." Police claimed they set up the sting after seeing Alison allegedly advertise her services online.
- 8/28/2016
- by Blake Bakkila, @bcbakkila
- PEOPLE.com
Are you ready to be schooled in some crazy celebrity connections? Whether it was Eddie Redmayne attending the same boarding school as a prince, Cameron Diaz's unsurprising weed supplier, or two pairs of Office stars who share classmates, these celebrities once found themselves sharing the same scholarly walls. - Additional reporting by Maria Mercedes Lara Related Stories: 8 Stars Who Were Voted Class Clown in High School;9 TV High Schools That Would Be Awful in Reality;12 Lessons You Learned From Great High School Movies;29 Hot TV Guys You Would Have Loved to Go to High School With...
- 8/20/2016
- by Ryan Roschke
- Popsugar.com
A homeless Minnesota mother who dreamed of seeing her son compete at the Olympics is officially off to Rio. Florence Matadi, mother of Olympic sprinter Emmanuel Matadi, found support from her church who started a GoFundMe campaign to cover travel expenses to Rio de Janeiro to see her son compete in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash, the Twin Cities Pioneer Press reports. A GoFundMe rep verified the campaign - now up to more than $5,000 - and told People that Matadi was on her way to the Games on Saturday, just in time for elimination trials. "She'll be in Rio till...
- 8/13/2016
- by Char Adams, @CiCiAdams_
- PEOPLE.com
A homeless Minnesota mother who dreamed of seeing her son compete at the Olympics is officially off to Rio. Florence Matadi, mother of Olympic sprinter Emmanuel Matadi, found support from her church who started a GoFundMe campaign to cover travel expenses to Rio de Janeiro to see her son compete in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash, the Twin Cities Pioneer Press reports. A GoFundMe rep verified the campaign - now up to more than $5,000 - and told People that Matadi was on her way to the Games on Saturday, just in time for elimination trials. "She'll be in Rio till...
- 8/13/2016
- by Char Adams, @CiCiAdams_
- PEOPLE.com
Citing "a breakdown in the marriage relationship," the wife of a Michigan Uber driver accused of killing six people has filed for divorce, People can confirm. According to MLive.com, Carole Dalton is seeking sole custody of her two children (ages 10 and 15) with Jason Dalton, who authorities have accused of randomly firing on people around Kalamazoo County, Michigan, over several hours on Feb. 20 - killing six and injuring two. Jason's family lawyer Paul Vlachos confirmed to People that Carole had filed for divorce but would not comment further on the filing. Jason later admitted "his involvement in these incidents," Kalamazoo...
- 2/27/2016
- by Adam Carlson, @acarlson91
- PEOPLE.com
Jimmy Carter's grandson, Jeremy Carter has died, People can confirm. He was 28. The former president announced the news while teaching a Sunday school class at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, on Sunday, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "[Carter's] decision to come teach Sunday school is indicative of his character, how important this church is to him, teaching is to him," the church's Pastor, Jeremy Shoulta, told the Journal-Constitution. "The past few months have been a very emotional time for this church. There have been moments of great joy, of sadness, of grief. The church has done all it can...
- 12/20/2015
- by Lindsay Kimble, @lekimble
- PEOPLE.com
"Ixcanul" is Guatemala's Official Submission in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 88th Academy Awards. Isa: Film Factory Entertainment. U.S. Distributor: Kino Lorber
Ingrained millenary practices and forbidding modern concerns unfold simultaneously against the backdrop of dark volcanic stone, colorful attires, rural duties, and perpetual mysticism, in a film that’s as aesthetically exquisite as it’s gruelingly bold in its quest to be fueled by unrestrained reality. Jayro Bustamante’s “Ixcanul” is an ethereal masterpiece whose breathtaking beauty is layered with sociopolitical undertones while always honoring the indigenous people at its center and, more specifically, its women's unwavering and restrained strength waiting to be unleashed.
This profoundly affecting story follows Maria (María Mercedes Coroy), a Kaqchikel Mayan young woman, who lives with her parents near in the outskirts of a volcano near a coffee plantation. This land, its scent, its colors, and its people are all she’s ever known and all she’s ever wanted until now. When an arranged marriage threatens to put an end to her apparent freedom, Maria considers the possibility of venturing far from home and seeing what’s beyond the mountains, but her naïve eagerness to escape will place her in the crossfire between romantic betrayal, dangerous rituals, and the unwelcoming urban world.
Bustamante juxtaposes Maria’s unnerving coming of age story with her mother Juana’s (María Telón) efforts to salvage the family’s future by abiding by tradition. Within these two parallel experiences there is an urgency to bring attention to the vulnerability of Guatemala’s Mayan population who are rarely given a voice.“Ixcanul” is a fierce artistic triumph coated with complexity, subtle poetry, and a delicate ability for capturing its characters’ introspective dilemmas through its imagery. Such showcase of attuned sensibilities is expected from a seasoned auteur at the peak of his creative powers, but Jayro Bustamante has accomplished just that with his astonishing debut feature. No wonder “Ixcanul” is Guatemala’s most acclaimed film ever and the winner of numerous international awards including the Alfred Bauer Award at the Berlin International Film festival.
We talked to Bustamante about the his relationship to the Mayan community where the film was shot, the male chauvinist societies that hinder women’s growth, his homeland’s institutionalize discrimination against indigenous people, and the incomparable visual allure of “Ixcanul.”
Kino Lorber will release "Ixcanul" in early 2016.
Carlos Aguilar: The film focuses on these two women who are every strong in distinct ways; however, they are faced with extraordinary circumstances that test that strength. How did the idea to write a story about these two connected characters come about?
Jayro Bustamante: The idea was born from a real story, the story of a real Maria. What’s really inspired in her life is the third act, the problematic situation with the baby. Based on that I started to create this fictional screenplay but always grounded on real things that I had seen in Guatemala. I grew up in that region and I asked myself, “How does one become the perfect victim?” just as Maria is in the film. That’s how I started building this story. I had two very clear themes I wanted to work on: one was loss and the other maternity. In order for the loss and that sort of prohibition to become a mother that is imposed on Maria to feel as powerful as they do in the movie, I needed to construct a kind of maternity that was beautiful, without idealizing it but highlighting it. That’s why I created the relationship between these two women. Throughout the process I always worked with the actresses as if the two characters were one. We always thought that Maria, if she had been given the chance, would have become Juana. She would have been just as strong as her. That’s how we worked on these two characters.
While Juana is the matriarch and often appears to be charge, she still lives in a male-driven society where her needs and desires are secondary to those of the men around. Was it important for you to depict the internal strength of these Mayan women while also being honest about the world they live in?
Jayro Bustamante: From the beginning my intention was to adhere to reality, except for the magical realist touches that I also wanted the film to have because they were very important. Magical realism doesn’t work if the real reality doesn’t exist. There is a great contradiction in male chauvinist societies, and that is that they are usually composed of matriarchal groups. A woman reigns but she always reigns in a small space that the man left for her. She reigns when the man needs someone to be in charge of things that he doesn’t want to take care of. For me that matriarchy is till is part of this male chauvinism or "machismo" and that matriarchy continues to feed it. If I’m against male chauvinism, I should also be against matriarchy because both extremes are bad and one is derived from the other.
What I really wanted to demonstrate was that there is a waste of feminine energy that happens in male chauvinist societies.To get from point A to point B, a woman has to embark on an incredible journey through everything that’s in between these two points and have a great strategy to be able to get there. This journey would be so much easier if we would let her take those steps and then with her own strength she can get wherever she wants to go. I wanted to talk about that strength and that’s why there is that parallel relationship between Maria and the volcano. There is something symbolic about it. For me, Mayan women in Guatemala today are like that volcano that rumbles and resounds but hasn’t yet erupted. Real change will happen when these women erupt and release what they have inside. That’s the metaphor we wanted to convey, the connection between these women and the volcano.
One of the greatest achievements of the film is that it refrains from observing the characters from an ethnographic perspective or with an air of exoticism. These are people. Yes, people with different traditions and experiences from what many consider normal, but they are still as human as anybody else.
Jayro Bustamante: Definitely. I never had that temptation or that perspective because I grew up there, so for me there is no difference between us. I wouldn’t do it with any other culture. That’s something I can’t understand, to think there are people that one can observe like if they were in a zoo. I don’t think that’s right. Rich cultural differences show us the diversity that exists in the world, but if you explore any of these differences you’ll see that we all have the same human feelings. That’s what allowed me to make a story that was very local but that at the same time could have certain international repercussion. I wrote a film about a woman whose problems take us into the problems of a family and that in turn takes us into the larger social problems. That’s what we wanted to do from the beginnings. That can’t be done if the feelings that belong to the universal language are not present.
Indigenous languages are rarely used in modern cinema and because of this indigenous people have in a sense become both faceless and voiceless. How crucial was it for you to make the film in the Mayan language?
Jayro Bustamante: It was very important. Perhaps there is a bit of melancholy because as I said I grew up there. I had a nanny that taught me a lot of things, a lot of traditional stories, and who also taught me that language when I was a young child. Maybe this melancholy is there, but above all this, language is the clearest example to demonstrate how a large portion of the country lives without the tools to grow and evolve in its own country. They are foreigners in their own country, but they are the majority. Today statistics say that these people represent only 40% of the Guatemalan population, but that’s a lie. Discrimination is so strong that if you are Mayan and during the census or on a survey they ask you, “Are you Mayan?” you prefer to say that you are mestizo or mixed because you are ashamed to say who you really are. The social fracture is so big that in Guatemala the worse insult you can tell somebody is calling him or her an “Indian.”
Something similar happens in Mexico, where I'm from. People tend to associate indigenous languages, features, or traditions with negative ideas or as something that's less sophisticated or worthy, which is terrible.
Jayro Bustamante: When you think about it, if the worse insult is to be who you are, even if you are the majority in a country, it means that the majority of the country has a terrible complex regarding their identity. If you are trying to improve yourself or overcome this circumstances, these ideas make very complicated emotionally. There are many themes that we touch on in the film that are derived from discrimination. When I travel abroad I get asked a lot, “Why does Pepe want to go to the Us?” Maybe you and I can understand why this young man wants to leave. The reason why he wants to leave is obvious to those of us who are from countries like Mexico and Guatemala. He earns one dollar a day in Guatemala and in the U.S. he could earn, let’s say, $15 an hour. It’s true that in the U.S. he could be discriminated for being Latino, but he is already being discriminated in Guatemala, his own country, because his Mayan. He has a lot more to win than to lose by leaving. That’s very sad.
Tell me about the process of finding your actors and how challenging this was. You evidently needed people who were Mayan and who spoke the language, but also that could pull off the intricate performances the film required.
Jayro Bustamante: That was the most beautiful part of the process, to work with the actors. I started hosting workshops, more regarding social issues, in the place were I grew up. I grew up in the outskirts of the Atitlán Lake in the highlands, which is a volcanic lake. It’s about two hours away from the location where we were going to shoot. I was accompanied by a social worker. The idea was to open spaces to discuss the problems facing the Mayan community so that the social worker could hear their concerns and follow up. This would help me enrich the screenplay and find the actresses there.
In a way this also reflected the reality of the country, although there were many women that were interested in working with me, there were also many of them that didn’t want to be part of the project. I thought all of them would want to, but I was wrong, a lot of them didn’t. Those that I wanted to work with and that wanted to work with me had another problem. Their husbands, their brother, their sons, or any other male in charge wouldn’t give them permissions to participate. They couldn’t come be part of the project because they had to stay home to serve them.
While this was happening and we were trying to figure things out, I met Maria Telón, who plays Juana. She is part of a street theater group. It’s a militant theater group that advocates for indigenous rights and women rights. They were putting on a play at that time, and I started following her performances from town to town. When we finally got to her community, I discovered that this community is very prosperous and very curious about the arts. I decided to stay there to do the casting. We held auditions at the local market. We set up our own stand among fruits and vegetable stands and we put up a sign that said, “Casting.” We had a camera and a notepad. Nobody came.
The next day we change the sign to, “Help Wanted,” and the entire town came. Thanks to that we were able to meet everyone in town and that’s where we cast the actors. We worked with them for threes months before filming the first scene. It was a very enriching process because besides the fact that they were Kaqchikel Mayans they had nothing in common with the characters. They live in a very prosperous society with all the basic services. Maria Mercedes is a student and Maria Telón is an actress and a saleswoman. She has a very different life form the character of the mother. Manuel Antún, the man who played Maria’s father, is a dentist, and Marvin Coroy, the guy who plays El Pepe, is a poet. We really did a lot of work to characterize this family so they could really look like a family and like they live in this very different situation.
Once you had cast them, what was your approach to eliciting the emotions you wanted from the actors. María Mercedes Coroy's performance in particular is very quiet but marvelously moving.
Jayro Bustamante: We didn’t have a particular technique. We worked a lot on trusting one another. With Maria Mercedes we worked on her confidence as a woman. It wasn’t that she wasn’t a confident woman, but we talked a lot about the strength that she had within herself. She was worried about playing a character that might falsely seem passive. It’s not that the character is passive, but on paper it might seem that way because everything is internalized. I believe this is one of the hardest types of characters to bring to life. We also worked on the power of her gaze. She allowed me to explore her personal life and her past in order to find in her own experiences emotions she could use while we were shooting. One week we decided to kiss tress. We went to a forest and we decided to kiss trees. She started kissing tress on one side of the forest and I did it in the other. In the end we ended up kissing the same one [Laughs]. It was about earning each other trust and losing all shame.
Visually the film is absolutely breathtaking. There is the natural beauty of the locations and a very evocative atmosphere throughout the entire film. How did you and your Dp, Luis Armando Arteaga, approach to the cinematography and minimalist aesthetic of the story, which is definitely a fantastic element of "Ixcanul"?
Jayro Bustamante: We’ve known each other for along time. We worked together on my last short film and we have developed other projects together. He is someone who has a vision of cinema that goes beyond that of a Dp. We did something very interesting, which was to go to a festival that’s sort of like the Cannes Film Festival for short films. It’s called Clermont-Ferrand International Film Festival. We were there for a week watching all the short films. Our interest was to watch as many as possible because filmmakers are more daring when making short films. There are new technologies that they are willing to try on short films and there is less financial risk. You can watch a lot of them in a short period of time. A big part of our job was watching these short films.
After that we talked a lot about the trap that this location could be because it’s a really beautiful location. You can drop your camera by accident and the photo that’s taken is already a postcard. Of course, I’m exaggerating but it’s really that beautiful. We talked about finding that postcard-like image and getting as far away from it as possible. We wanted to stay within the characters’ intimacy. We both really wanted to shoot it on 16mm, and we couldn’t because of financial constraints, so we shot it on a digital camera. Since we shot on digital, we did a lot of work to create that grainy quality that film gives you. We used the volcano’s dust and a lot of smoke. We had someone who would create smoke for every scene. Every single scene you see in the film had smoke, in varying densities, but they all had smoke. Then we were able to do the post-production in France in one of the best studios, which was amazing.
There is a certain mysticism to the story that we see through several rituals and this community's connection to nature, and the volcano in particular. Tell me about including these otherworldly beliefs and spiritual offerings in the narrative. Why did you feel they were an important characteristic of this society?
Jayro Bustamante: All of these elements are things that I’ve seen myself or that still exist. In terms of the mysticism, for me, instead of trying to tell a spiritual story I wanted to tell a purely religious story. There is a Mayan religion today that’s a mix between Catholicism and the Mayan beliefs that remained after the Spanish empire fell. My characters live in a grave situation, one in which the only thing they do is try resolve their multiple problems. That’s why whenever a new problem arrives they act in such a tolerant manner, because they can’t add fuel to the fire. What they have to do is put it out. When you are in situations like these, normally human beings have the tendency to seek answers and hope in something bigger than them. If they were a Catholic family I would have focused on the Catholic religion. I wanted to also talk about the problem with religions. Religions are dogmas and rules represented by a leader that could lead you into the wrong path. This was the message. It was more of a religious message than a spiritual or Mayan message.
Regarding the rituals you see in the film, they are all based on rituals that are still being practiced today. Even us, before shooting we would lit a sacred fire to ask the volcano for permission. When we shot in the coffee plantation we also had a sacred fire there. It’s a very nice thing because you lit a fire and the ceremony lasts till the fire extinguishes by itself. It’s the fire that tells you when the ceremony is over. In the meantime you are sharing energy with the people around you. You tell the earth what you are going to be doing there. It’s about communicating and about the energy flow. When the fire is out you end up way too relaxed, so we started substituting the sacred fires for the yoga exercises. [Laughs]. It’s very interesting and it’s something that’s still done all the time.
In the final act you take your characters out of their community and expose them to urban Guatemala. In that moment these two worlds seem to clash and how little their know about each other.
Jayro Bustamante: The film was constructed in crescendo from the beginning. I was lucky enough to conceive the ending very early on in the process and because of this I started working backwards towards the beginning of the story. Instead of wanting to say, “Oh poor indigenous people” or “Wow these westerners are terrible,” what I wanted to talk about was the lack of social tools they have and how in this country a large segment of the population is left without basic services. Well, in Guatemala today even people who have all the tools and resources can still be left without the basic services because politicians stole all the money and nothing is working. But for indigenous people things are even worse. They are even lower in the list of the government’s priorities. That was the intention behind taking the characters out of their environment and into the city.
Has the film started a conversation or a dialogue regarding about discrimination and other issues currently affecting this segment of the population and Guatemala in general?
Jayro Bustamante: Yes, I’m really amazed about it. When I started speaking to the press in Guatemala about the film, I said that Guatemalans needed to learn how to watch films because it appeared to me that people were unable to analyze films. When “Ixcanul” opened in movie theaters it became a small success considering that it’s an art house film. We were in theaters for 7 weeks, which was great. After that, I found a lot reviews and articles about the film written by Guatemalans. These were profound analyzes and very well written.
Some were very self-critical regarding the country’s situation. I realized that I was wrong, Guatemalans are able to do these analyzes, but they get to see very few films that warrant it. You are not going to write a profound analysis about “Fast and Furious,” there is not much to analyze there. You watch it and you talk about it candidly, but you don’t spend much time thinking about an American blockbuster. That was very surprising and very gratifying for me, to see that people in Guatemala wrote criticism and self-analyze the country through the film. Soon after the film’s premier one of the most important newspapers in Guatemala published an article entitled, Ixcanul is a Slap on Guatemala’s Face. The journalist wrote about the country’s current social situation in relation to the film.
When you are in another country does it surprise you that perhaps your film is the first contact people abroad have with Guatemala as a country and even more so with its cinema? "Ixcanul" is by far the most talked about and the most internationally acclaimed Guatemalan film ever.
Jayro Bustamante: No, it doesn’t surprise me that we are not a very well known country or that we are country only known because of the difficult political situations we are going through. It doesn’t surprise me because we as a country haven’t done anything for this to be different. Everything we’ve done prompted people outside to see us just the way they see us. It’s what we deserve in a sense. We are also a very small country. When it comes to tourism we are very interesting country, but we are very small country that has been in an arm conflict for so long that obviously tourists don’t come. Then there are all the problems with the gangs, cartels, kidnappings, and all the other bad things you can think of.
It’s understandable that we are not well known. At first I believed that the point of entry could be the Mayan civilization because I thought that would be well known abroad, and I’ve realized that not so much. There is still a lot to teach and share about Guatemala with the world, which is good. Something that I still find especially surprising is this idea that the Mayans disappeared or vanished. It’s crazy to me that people still believe that, but I can understand why. It’s very interesting to me that people around world, even in places as far as Japan, connect with the emotions that the film exudes. That’s the nicest compliment. I’ve also had people in other countries tell me, “You are the firs Guatemalan I’ve ever seen.” I tell them, “Touch me! I’m real” [Laughs].
Kino Lorber will release "Ixcanul" in early 2016.
Ingrained millenary practices and forbidding modern concerns unfold simultaneously against the backdrop of dark volcanic stone, colorful attires, rural duties, and perpetual mysticism, in a film that’s as aesthetically exquisite as it’s gruelingly bold in its quest to be fueled by unrestrained reality. Jayro Bustamante’s “Ixcanul” is an ethereal masterpiece whose breathtaking beauty is layered with sociopolitical undertones while always honoring the indigenous people at its center and, more specifically, its women's unwavering and restrained strength waiting to be unleashed.
This profoundly affecting story follows Maria (María Mercedes Coroy), a Kaqchikel Mayan young woman, who lives with her parents near in the outskirts of a volcano near a coffee plantation. This land, its scent, its colors, and its people are all she’s ever known and all she’s ever wanted until now. When an arranged marriage threatens to put an end to her apparent freedom, Maria considers the possibility of venturing far from home and seeing what’s beyond the mountains, but her naïve eagerness to escape will place her in the crossfire between romantic betrayal, dangerous rituals, and the unwelcoming urban world.
Bustamante juxtaposes Maria’s unnerving coming of age story with her mother Juana’s (María Telón) efforts to salvage the family’s future by abiding by tradition. Within these two parallel experiences there is an urgency to bring attention to the vulnerability of Guatemala’s Mayan population who are rarely given a voice.“Ixcanul” is a fierce artistic triumph coated with complexity, subtle poetry, and a delicate ability for capturing its characters’ introspective dilemmas through its imagery. Such showcase of attuned sensibilities is expected from a seasoned auteur at the peak of his creative powers, but Jayro Bustamante has accomplished just that with his astonishing debut feature. No wonder “Ixcanul” is Guatemala’s most acclaimed film ever and the winner of numerous international awards including the Alfred Bauer Award at the Berlin International Film festival.
We talked to Bustamante about the his relationship to the Mayan community where the film was shot, the male chauvinist societies that hinder women’s growth, his homeland’s institutionalize discrimination against indigenous people, and the incomparable visual allure of “Ixcanul.”
Kino Lorber will release "Ixcanul" in early 2016.
Carlos Aguilar: The film focuses on these two women who are every strong in distinct ways; however, they are faced with extraordinary circumstances that test that strength. How did the idea to write a story about these two connected characters come about?
Jayro Bustamante: The idea was born from a real story, the story of a real Maria. What’s really inspired in her life is the third act, the problematic situation with the baby. Based on that I started to create this fictional screenplay but always grounded on real things that I had seen in Guatemala. I grew up in that region and I asked myself, “How does one become the perfect victim?” just as Maria is in the film. That’s how I started building this story. I had two very clear themes I wanted to work on: one was loss and the other maternity. In order for the loss and that sort of prohibition to become a mother that is imposed on Maria to feel as powerful as they do in the movie, I needed to construct a kind of maternity that was beautiful, without idealizing it but highlighting it. That’s why I created the relationship between these two women. Throughout the process I always worked with the actresses as if the two characters were one. We always thought that Maria, if she had been given the chance, would have become Juana. She would have been just as strong as her. That’s how we worked on these two characters.
While Juana is the matriarch and often appears to be charge, she still lives in a male-driven society where her needs and desires are secondary to those of the men around. Was it important for you to depict the internal strength of these Mayan women while also being honest about the world they live in?
Jayro Bustamante: From the beginning my intention was to adhere to reality, except for the magical realist touches that I also wanted the film to have because they were very important. Magical realism doesn’t work if the real reality doesn’t exist. There is a great contradiction in male chauvinist societies, and that is that they are usually composed of matriarchal groups. A woman reigns but she always reigns in a small space that the man left for her. She reigns when the man needs someone to be in charge of things that he doesn’t want to take care of. For me that matriarchy is till is part of this male chauvinism or "machismo" and that matriarchy continues to feed it. If I’m against male chauvinism, I should also be against matriarchy because both extremes are bad and one is derived from the other.
What I really wanted to demonstrate was that there is a waste of feminine energy that happens in male chauvinist societies.To get from point A to point B, a woman has to embark on an incredible journey through everything that’s in between these two points and have a great strategy to be able to get there. This journey would be so much easier if we would let her take those steps and then with her own strength she can get wherever she wants to go. I wanted to talk about that strength and that’s why there is that parallel relationship between Maria and the volcano. There is something symbolic about it. For me, Mayan women in Guatemala today are like that volcano that rumbles and resounds but hasn’t yet erupted. Real change will happen when these women erupt and release what they have inside. That’s the metaphor we wanted to convey, the connection between these women and the volcano.
One of the greatest achievements of the film is that it refrains from observing the characters from an ethnographic perspective or with an air of exoticism. These are people. Yes, people with different traditions and experiences from what many consider normal, but they are still as human as anybody else.
Jayro Bustamante: Definitely. I never had that temptation or that perspective because I grew up there, so for me there is no difference between us. I wouldn’t do it with any other culture. That’s something I can’t understand, to think there are people that one can observe like if they were in a zoo. I don’t think that’s right. Rich cultural differences show us the diversity that exists in the world, but if you explore any of these differences you’ll see that we all have the same human feelings. That’s what allowed me to make a story that was very local but that at the same time could have certain international repercussion. I wrote a film about a woman whose problems take us into the problems of a family and that in turn takes us into the larger social problems. That’s what we wanted to do from the beginnings. That can’t be done if the feelings that belong to the universal language are not present.
Indigenous languages are rarely used in modern cinema and because of this indigenous people have in a sense become both faceless and voiceless. How crucial was it for you to make the film in the Mayan language?
Jayro Bustamante: It was very important. Perhaps there is a bit of melancholy because as I said I grew up there. I had a nanny that taught me a lot of things, a lot of traditional stories, and who also taught me that language when I was a young child. Maybe this melancholy is there, but above all this, language is the clearest example to demonstrate how a large portion of the country lives without the tools to grow and evolve in its own country. They are foreigners in their own country, but they are the majority. Today statistics say that these people represent only 40% of the Guatemalan population, but that’s a lie. Discrimination is so strong that if you are Mayan and during the census or on a survey they ask you, “Are you Mayan?” you prefer to say that you are mestizo or mixed because you are ashamed to say who you really are. The social fracture is so big that in Guatemala the worse insult you can tell somebody is calling him or her an “Indian.”
Something similar happens in Mexico, where I'm from. People tend to associate indigenous languages, features, or traditions with negative ideas or as something that's less sophisticated or worthy, which is terrible.
Jayro Bustamante: When you think about it, if the worse insult is to be who you are, even if you are the majority in a country, it means that the majority of the country has a terrible complex regarding their identity. If you are trying to improve yourself or overcome this circumstances, these ideas make very complicated emotionally. There are many themes that we touch on in the film that are derived from discrimination. When I travel abroad I get asked a lot, “Why does Pepe want to go to the Us?” Maybe you and I can understand why this young man wants to leave. The reason why he wants to leave is obvious to those of us who are from countries like Mexico and Guatemala. He earns one dollar a day in Guatemala and in the U.S. he could earn, let’s say, $15 an hour. It’s true that in the U.S. he could be discriminated for being Latino, but he is already being discriminated in Guatemala, his own country, because his Mayan. He has a lot more to win than to lose by leaving. That’s very sad.
Tell me about the process of finding your actors and how challenging this was. You evidently needed people who were Mayan and who spoke the language, but also that could pull off the intricate performances the film required.
Jayro Bustamante: That was the most beautiful part of the process, to work with the actors. I started hosting workshops, more regarding social issues, in the place were I grew up. I grew up in the outskirts of the Atitlán Lake in the highlands, which is a volcanic lake. It’s about two hours away from the location where we were going to shoot. I was accompanied by a social worker. The idea was to open spaces to discuss the problems facing the Mayan community so that the social worker could hear their concerns and follow up. This would help me enrich the screenplay and find the actresses there.
In a way this also reflected the reality of the country, although there were many women that were interested in working with me, there were also many of them that didn’t want to be part of the project. I thought all of them would want to, but I was wrong, a lot of them didn’t. Those that I wanted to work with and that wanted to work with me had another problem. Their husbands, their brother, their sons, or any other male in charge wouldn’t give them permissions to participate. They couldn’t come be part of the project because they had to stay home to serve them.
While this was happening and we were trying to figure things out, I met Maria Telón, who plays Juana. She is part of a street theater group. It’s a militant theater group that advocates for indigenous rights and women rights. They were putting on a play at that time, and I started following her performances from town to town. When we finally got to her community, I discovered that this community is very prosperous and very curious about the arts. I decided to stay there to do the casting. We held auditions at the local market. We set up our own stand among fruits and vegetable stands and we put up a sign that said, “Casting.” We had a camera and a notepad. Nobody came.
The next day we change the sign to, “Help Wanted,” and the entire town came. Thanks to that we were able to meet everyone in town and that’s where we cast the actors. We worked with them for threes months before filming the first scene. It was a very enriching process because besides the fact that they were Kaqchikel Mayans they had nothing in common with the characters. They live in a very prosperous society with all the basic services. Maria Mercedes is a student and Maria Telón is an actress and a saleswoman. She has a very different life form the character of the mother. Manuel Antún, the man who played Maria’s father, is a dentist, and Marvin Coroy, the guy who plays El Pepe, is a poet. We really did a lot of work to characterize this family so they could really look like a family and like they live in this very different situation.
Once you had cast them, what was your approach to eliciting the emotions you wanted from the actors. María Mercedes Coroy's performance in particular is very quiet but marvelously moving.
Jayro Bustamante: We didn’t have a particular technique. We worked a lot on trusting one another. With Maria Mercedes we worked on her confidence as a woman. It wasn’t that she wasn’t a confident woman, but we talked a lot about the strength that she had within herself. She was worried about playing a character that might falsely seem passive. It’s not that the character is passive, but on paper it might seem that way because everything is internalized. I believe this is one of the hardest types of characters to bring to life. We also worked on the power of her gaze. She allowed me to explore her personal life and her past in order to find in her own experiences emotions she could use while we were shooting. One week we decided to kiss tress. We went to a forest and we decided to kiss trees. She started kissing tress on one side of the forest and I did it in the other. In the end we ended up kissing the same one [Laughs]. It was about earning each other trust and losing all shame.
Visually the film is absolutely breathtaking. There is the natural beauty of the locations and a very evocative atmosphere throughout the entire film. How did you and your Dp, Luis Armando Arteaga, approach to the cinematography and minimalist aesthetic of the story, which is definitely a fantastic element of "Ixcanul"?
Jayro Bustamante: We’ve known each other for along time. We worked together on my last short film and we have developed other projects together. He is someone who has a vision of cinema that goes beyond that of a Dp. We did something very interesting, which was to go to a festival that’s sort of like the Cannes Film Festival for short films. It’s called Clermont-Ferrand International Film Festival. We were there for a week watching all the short films. Our interest was to watch as many as possible because filmmakers are more daring when making short films. There are new technologies that they are willing to try on short films and there is less financial risk. You can watch a lot of them in a short period of time. A big part of our job was watching these short films.
After that we talked a lot about the trap that this location could be because it’s a really beautiful location. You can drop your camera by accident and the photo that’s taken is already a postcard. Of course, I’m exaggerating but it’s really that beautiful. We talked about finding that postcard-like image and getting as far away from it as possible. We wanted to stay within the characters’ intimacy. We both really wanted to shoot it on 16mm, and we couldn’t because of financial constraints, so we shot it on a digital camera. Since we shot on digital, we did a lot of work to create that grainy quality that film gives you. We used the volcano’s dust and a lot of smoke. We had someone who would create smoke for every scene. Every single scene you see in the film had smoke, in varying densities, but they all had smoke. Then we were able to do the post-production in France in one of the best studios, which was amazing.
There is a certain mysticism to the story that we see through several rituals and this community's connection to nature, and the volcano in particular. Tell me about including these otherworldly beliefs and spiritual offerings in the narrative. Why did you feel they were an important characteristic of this society?
Jayro Bustamante: All of these elements are things that I’ve seen myself or that still exist. In terms of the mysticism, for me, instead of trying to tell a spiritual story I wanted to tell a purely religious story. There is a Mayan religion today that’s a mix between Catholicism and the Mayan beliefs that remained after the Spanish empire fell. My characters live in a grave situation, one in which the only thing they do is try resolve their multiple problems. That’s why whenever a new problem arrives they act in such a tolerant manner, because they can’t add fuel to the fire. What they have to do is put it out. When you are in situations like these, normally human beings have the tendency to seek answers and hope in something bigger than them. If they were a Catholic family I would have focused on the Catholic religion. I wanted to also talk about the problem with religions. Religions are dogmas and rules represented by a leader that could lead you into the wrong path. This was the message. It was more of a religious message than a spiritual or Mayan message.
Regarding the rituals you see in the film, they are all based on rituals that are still being practiced today. Even us, before shooting we would lit a sacred fire to ask the volcano for permission. When we shot in the coffee plantation we also had a sacred fire there. It’s a very nice thing because you lit a fire and the ceremony lasts till the fire extinguishes by itself. It’s the fire that tells you when the ceremony is over. In the meantime you are sharing energy with the people around you. You tell the earth what you are going to be doing there. It’s about communicating and about the energy flow. When the fire is out you end up way too relaxed, so we started substituting the sacred fires for the yoga exercises. [Laughs]. It’s very interesting and it’s something that’s still done all the time.
In the final act you take your characters out of their community and expose them to urban Guatemala. In that moment these two worlds seem to clash and how little their know about each other.
Jayro Bustamante: The film was constructed in crescendo from the beginning. I was lucky enough to conceive the ending very early on in the process and because of this I started working backwards towards the beginning of the story. Instead of wanting to say, “Oh poor indigenous people” or “Wow these westerners are terrible,” what I wanted to talk about was the lack of social tools they have and how in this country a large segment of the population is left without basic services. Well, in Guatemala today even people who have all the tools and resources can still be left without the basic services because politicians stole all the money and nothing is working. But for indigenous people things are even worse. They are even lower in the list of the government’s priorities. That was the intention behind taking the characters out of their environment and into the city.
Has the film started a conversation or a dialogue regarding about discrimination and other issues currently affecting this segment of the population and Guatemala in general?
Jayro Bustamante: Yes, I’m really amazed about it. When I started speaking to the press in Guatemala about the film, I said that Guatemalans needed to learn how to watch films because it appeared to me that people were unable to analyze films. When “Ixcanul” opened in movie theaters it became a small success considering that it’s an art house film. We were in theaters for 7 weeks, which was great. After that, I found a lot reviews and articles about the film written by Guatemalans. These were profound analyzes and very well written.
Some were very self-critical regarding the country’s situation. I realized that I was wrong, Guatemalans are able to do these analyzes, but they get to see very few films that warrant it. You are not going to write a profound analysis about “Fast and Furious,” there is not much to analyze there. You watch it and you talk about it candidly, but you don’t spend much time thinking about an American blockbuster. That was very surprising and very gratifying for me, to see that people in Guatemala wrote criticism and self-analyze the country through the film. Soon after the film’s premier one of the most important newspapers in Guatemala published an article entitled, Ixcanul is a Slap on Guatemala’s Face. The journalist wrote about the country’s current social situation in relation to the film.
When you are in another country does it surprise you that perhaps your film is the first contact people abroad have with Guatemala as a country and even more so with its cinema? "Ixcanul" is by far the most talked about and the most internationally acclaimed Guatemalan film ever.
Jayro Bustamante: No, it doesn’t surprise me that we are not a very well known country or that we are country only known because of the difficult political situations we are going through. It doesn’t surprise me because we as a country haven’t done anything for this to be different. Everything we’ve done prompted people outside to see us just the way they see us. It’s what we deserve in a sense. We are also a very small country. When it comes to tourism we are very interesting country, but we are very small country that has been in an arm conflict for so long that obviously tourists don’t come. Then there are all the problems with the gangs, cartels, kidnappings, and all the other bad things you can think of.
It’s understandable that we are not well known. At first I believed that the point of entry could be the Mayan civilization because I thought that would be well known abroad, and I’ve realized that not so much. There is still a lot to teach and share about Guatemala with the world, which is good. Something that I still find especially surprising is this idea that the Mayans disappeared or vanished. It’s crazy to me that people still believe that, but I can understand why. It’s very interesting to me that people around world, even in places as far as Japan, connect with the emotions that the film exudes. That’s the nicest compliment. I’ve also had people in other countries tell me, “You are the firs Guatemalan I’ve ever seen.” I tell them, “Touch me! I’m real” [Laughs].
Kino Lorber will release "Ixcanul" in early 2016.
- 12/1/2015
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
This is one Halloween they'll remember forever.
Jamie Chung and Bryan Greenberg exchanged vows Saturday afternoon in front of their family and friends during a beautiful ceremony at El Capitan Canyon in Santa Barbara, California, a source confirms to People. Martha Stewart Weddings was the first to report the news.
The three-day event kicked off on Friday when they hosted a "boos and booze" welcome dinner and party in the woods, where guests were encouraged to wear costumes. (The dress code for the ceremony itself was simply cocktail attire.)
Greenberg shared photos on Instagram ahead of his nuptials, including showing...
Jamie Chung and Bryan Greenberg exchanged vows Saturday afternoon in front of their family and friends during a beautiful ceremony at El Capitan Canyon in Santa Barbara, California, a source confirms to People. Martha Stewart Weddings was the first to report the news.
The three-day event kicked off on Friday when they hosted a "boos and booze" welcome dinner and party in the woods, where guests were encouraged to wear costumes. (The dress code for the ceremony itself was simply cocktail attire.)
Greenberg shared photos on Instagram ahead of his nuptials, including showing...
- 11/1/2015
- by Melody Chiu, @chiumelo
- People.com - TV Watch
Former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Joyce Giraud's home was burglarized while she was away on vacation over Memorial Day weekend.
The reality star's rep confirms to People that Giraud, 40, was on vacation with her family when the incident occurred, and that only the maid was home at the time. Police allegedly arrested the suspect at the scene, and no injuries were reported. No items were taken from the home, Giraud's rep says.
According to TMZ, someone reportedly scaled an exterior wall to break into the Los Angeles, California, house through a back window.
The suspect then allegedly...
The reality star's rep confirms to People that Giraud, 40, was on vacation with her family when the incident occurred, and that only the maid was home at the time. Police allegedly arrested the suspect at the scene, and no injuries were reported. No items were taken from the home, Giraud's rep says.
According to TMZ, someone reportedly scaled an exterior wall to break into the Los Angeles, California, house through a back window.
The suspect then allegedly...
- 5/25/2015
- by Lindsay Kimble, @lekimble
- People.com - TV Watch
Neil Armfield.s Holding the Man, Simon Stone.s The Daughter, Jeremy Sims. Last Cab to Darwin and Jen Peedom.s feature doc Sherpa will have their world premieres at the Sydney Film Festival.
The festival program unveiled today includes 33 world premieres (including 22 shorts) and 135 Australian premieres (with 18 shorts) among 251 titles from 68 countries.
Among the other premieres will be Daina Reid.s The Secret River, Ruby Entertainment's. ABC-tv miniseries starring Oliver Jackson Cohen and Sarah Snook, and three Oz docs, Marc Eberle.s The Cambodian Space Project — Not Easy Rock .n. Roll, Steve Thomas. Freedom Stories and Lisa Nicol.s Wide Open Sky.
Festival director Nashen Moodley boasted. this year.s event will be far larger than 2014's when 183 films from 47 countries were screened, including 15 world premieres. The expansion is possible in part due to the addition of two new screening venues in Newtown and Liverpool.
As previously announced, Brendan Cowell...
The festival program unveiled today includes 33 world premieres (including 22 shorts) and 135 Australian premieres (with 18 shorts) among 251 titles from 68 countries.
Among the other premieres will be Daina Reid.s The Secret River, Ruby Entertainment's. ABC-tv miniseries starring Oliver Jackson Cohen and Sarah Snook, and three Oz docs, Marc Eberle.s The Cambodian Space Project — Not Easy Rock .n. Roll, Steve Thomas. Freedom Stories and Lisa Nicol.s Wide Open Sky.
Festival director Nashen Moodley boasted. this year.s event will be far larger than 2014's when 183 films from 47 countries were screened, including 15 world premieres. The expansion is possible in part due to the addition of two new screening venues in Newtown and Liverpool.
As previously announced, Brendan Cowell...
- 5/6/2015
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
A 19-year-old was shot and killed by a police officer in Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday evening, People has confirmed. Authorities are not identifying the victim, but Michael Johnson, the CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County, has identified the deceased teen as Anthony "Tony" Robinson. Johnson tells People that he is acting as a spokesperson for the family. In a press conference late Friday night, Madison Police Chief Mike Koval told reporters that the shooting occurred after an officer responded to reports of a man jumping into traffic, according to Wkow. "Before we arrived, the call was...
- 3/7/2015
- by Tara Fowler, @waterfowlerta
- PEOPLE.com
Jayro Bustamante discusses his Guatemalan story sold by Film Factory.
Berlin competition entry Ixcanul (Volcano) charts the haunting story of a 17-year-old Mayan woman who lives on the slopes of an active volcano in Guatemala but dreams of seeing ‘the city’.
However, her status as an indigenous woman does not allow her to go out into that ‘modern world’. Later, during a pregnancy complication, this modern world will save her life, but at a price.
For 37-year old Guatemalan director Jayro Bustamante his debut feature is very much a personal story.
“I grew up in a Mayan community in a village that was 80 percent Mayan, 20 percent ‘mixed’”, he says.
“My mother was a doctor. She met a woman who told her the story I tell in the film. I wrote it down at the time but had to wait a while before coming to the screenplay. It’s not always easy talking about Mayans as a ‘white...
Berlin competition entry Ixcanul (Volcano) charts the haunting story of a 17-year-old Mayan woman who lives on the slopes of an active volcano in Guatemala but dreams of seeing ‘the city’.
However, her status as an indigenous woman does not allow her to go out into that ‘modern world’. Later, during a pregnancy complication, this modern world will save her life, but at a price.
For 37-year old Guatemalan director Jayro Bustamante his debut feature is very much a personal story.
“I grew up in a Mayan community in a village that was 80 percent Mayan, 20 percent ‘mixed’”, he says.
“My mother was a doctor. She met a woman who told her the story I tell in the film. I wrote it down at the time but had to wait a while before coming to the screenplay. It’s not always easy talking about Mayans as a ‘white...
- 2/7/2015
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
The first paparazzi photos from Terrence Malick’s "Knight of Cups" surfaced in October 2012. Featuring Christian Bale and Natalie Portman playing in the ocean, it looked as poetic and narrative-less as anyone could hope from the "Badlands" and "Tree of Life" director. Since the shoot, Malick shot a second film (set around the Austin music scene... we think) and fought a few legal battles over his "Tree of Life" IMAX companion film "Voyage of Time." So we’ll forgive him that it’s taken this long for "Knight of Cups" to actually make its way on to the theater circuit and towards an actual release date. Monday morning, the 65th Berlin Film Festival announced the first seven films to be included in its 2015 Competition program. And whaddaya know — "Knight of Cups" is on it! Starring Bale, Portman, and Cate Blanchett, the film is about… well, we’re not sure. When...
- 12/15/2014
- by Matt Patches
- Hitfix
The first seven films for the 65th Berlin Film Festival Competition program have just been announced, slightly lifting a veil of mystery on at least one title. Included in the lineup is Terrence Malick’s Knight Of Cups, which will vie for prizes in its world premiere. Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett and Natalie Portman star. Malick has been notorious for the secrecy that shrouds his projects and little has been known about Knight Of Cups other than that it deals with temptations, celebrity, and excess. The Berlin announcement hasn’t provided any more intel, but watchers have pondered when the film would make its first festival appearance, and its inclusion in the Berlinale’s first competition titles has just added an extra dimension to the proceedings as news begins to trickle out of Germany. Malick has won in Berlin before, taking the Golden Bear for 1999’s The Thin Red Line.
- 12/15/2014
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline
Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella to get international premiere out of comp.
The first seven films for the 65th Berlin International Film Festival Competition programme have been selected.
Competitors include former Berlinale bear winners Andreas Dresen (Nightshapes, 1999; Grill Point, 2002) and Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line, 1999) with their newest works.
Berlinale regular Peter Greenaway, former Generation participant Andrew Haigh, Russian director Alexey German and newcomer Jayro Bustamante also make the cut.
Kenneth Branagh’s live action Cinderella will screen out of competition.
Films confirmed in competition to date (in alphabetical order):
45 Years
United Kingdom
By Andrew Haigh (Weekend)
With Charlotte Rampling, Tom Courtenay
World premiere
Als wir träumten (As We Were Dreaming)
Germany / France
By Andreas Dresen (Grill Point, Cloud 9, Stopped on Track)
With Merlin Rose, Julius Nitschkoff, Joel Basman, Marcel Heuperman, Frederic Haselon, Ruby O. Fee
World premiere
Cinderella
USA
By Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet)
With Cate Blanchett, Lily James, Richard Madden, [link...
The first seven films for the 65th Berlin International Film Festival Competition programme have been selected.
Competitors include former Berlinale bear winners Andreas Dresen (Nightshapes, 1999; Grill Point, 2002) and Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line, 1999) with their newest works.
Berlinale regular Peter Greenaway, former Generation participant Andrew Haigh, Russian director Alexey German and newcomer Jayro Bustamante also make the cut.
Kenneth Branagh’s live action Cinderella will screen out of competition.
Films confirmed in competition to date (in alphabetical order):
45 Years
United Kingdom
By Andrew Haigh (Weekend)
With Charlotte Rampling, Tom Courtenay
World premiere
Als wir träumten (As We Were Dreaming)
Germany / France
By Andreas Dresen (Grill Point, Cloud 9, Stopped on Track)
With Merlin Rose, Julius Nitschkoff, Joel Basman, Marcel Heuperman, Frederic Haselon, Ruby O. Fee
World premiere
Cinderella
USA
By Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet)
With Cate Blanchett, Lily James, Richard Madden, [link...
- 12/15/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake are expecting their first child, Us Weekly reports. According to the magazine, multiple sources have confirmed that Jessica is pregnant. Rumors of a pregnancy began in early October when Jessica was spotted with a noticeably rounder stomach during a beach day in Hawaii and reached a fever pitch after the actress's growing belly stuck out of her shirt during a shopping trip in La. Last week, InStyle Editor in Chief Ariel Foxman congratulated the couple in a since-deleted Instagram post, fueling speculation that the actress was indeed with child. Neither Jessica nor Justin has publicly commented on the rumors, although the pair were seen partying together on Halloween, where they both dressed up as pigs from National Lampoon's European Vacation. (Costumes which also conveniently mask any sign of pregnancy.) Jessica hasn't been shying away from social media in the wake of the rumors and even...
- 11/5/2014
- by Brittney-Stephens
- Popsugar.com
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's royal tour of New Zealand and Australia is underway, and during their time abroad they've managed to tiptoe around several tricky situations. The moments have ranged from the traditional - like New Zealand's hongi tradition and the Maori's skin-baring costumes - to the silly, like Prince William and Kate Middleton trying to do physical activities in business suits and the duchess trying to make her way around an Australian beach in sky-high wedges. Keep reading to see the most interesting interactions, and come back later to see what else the royal tour brings. - Additional reporting by Maria Mercedes Lara View Slideshow ›...
- 4/18/2014
- by Nick Maslow
- Popsugar.com
How would Hollywood's biggest celebrities prepare for a night in the jungle? We asked Jamie Foxx, George Lopez, Kristin Chenoweth, Jemaine Clement, and more stars of Rio 2, the Amazon-themed sequel to the hugely popular Rio, what they would bring along for a tropical trip, and their answers may surprise you. Bonus: find out which handsome star thinks he would easily survive a day in the Amazon and what his funny costars think of his confidence. On Maria Mercedes: Forever 21 dress...
- 4/4/2014
- by Maria Mercedes Lara
- Popsugar.com
Rio 2 takes the lovable, city-dwelling blue macaws from Rio and transports them into the unfamiliar world of the Amazon. So, how would the film's stars Anne Hathaway and Andy Garcia fare in the jungle? We asked them about their survival skills - and how they would compare to the rest of their castmates - when we sat down with them for an interview. On Maria Mercedes: Forever 21 dress...
- 4/3/2014
- by Maria Mercedes Lara
- Popsugar.com
Wes Anderson is back with The Grand Budapest Hotel, a March 7 release that features many of his go-to actors: Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, and Adrien Brody. At last night's New York premiere, entertainment editor Maria Mercedes Lara caught up with a handful of Wes's stars, who explained the director's unique brand of movie-making magic. On Allie: Chinti and Parker sweater, Candela skirt; on Maria: Rebecca Taylor top...
- 2/27/2014
- by Allie Merriam
- Popsugar.com
Ron Burgundy trades the 1970s for the 1980s in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, but where would San Diego's classiest reporter work if he were real today? At last night's big New York City premiere, Popsugar entertainment editor Maria Mercedes Lara posed the question to Will Ferrell and his costars Steve Carell and Paul Rudd with predictably hilarious results. On Allie: Massimo Dutti top, J Brand jacket...
- 12/16/2013
- by Allie Merriam
- Popsugar.com
Thor: The Dark World hits theaters this weekend, and we got a chance to sit down with cast members to talk about the new film and their castmates. Chris Hemsworth joked with us about Tom Hiddleston's dance skills, while Tom revealed that Chris has a knack for impersonating Tom. Meanwhile, Kat Dennings praised the good looks of the entire cast, while Christopher Eccleston revealed what it was like to take over the bad-guy role from Loki. Plus, we got everyone to play our word association game with hilarious results. Keep clicking to see all of our interviews with the Thor cast! On Maria Mercedes: Club Monaco View Slideshow ›...
- 11/9/2013
- by Maria Mercedes Lara
- Popsugar.com
Tom Hiddleston may get a lot of attention for his celebrity impressions online, but the actor revealed that his Thor: The Dark World costars are just as good at impressions as he is. We caught up with Tom ahead of the Friday release of the latest Thor film to talk about his reputation online as a hilarious mimic, what it was like reuniting with Chris Hemsworth, and what he really thinks about costar Stellan Skarsgard. On Maria Mercedes: Club Monaco.
- 11/7/2013
- by Maria Mercedes Lara
- Popsugar.com
Who exactly is Cressida Bonas? One thing's for sure: the 24-year-old Brit has captured Prince Harry's heart. Get the scoop on Cressida, who, despite her own aristocratic connections, seems to love letting loose and having fun just as much as her royal boyfriend. We're sharing what you need to know about Cressida with the help of entertainment editor Maria Mercedes Lara. On Allie: Joie top and Banana Republic blazer; on Maria: Banana Republic sweater and Levi's top...
- 10/22/2013
- by Allie Merriam
- Popsugar.com
Gwyneth Paltrow may have some competition as Hollywood's reigning domestic expert! After launching her lifestyle company, Goop, five years ago, Gwyneth has seen many celebrities follow in her footsteps and found lifestyle brands. The newest gal who's stepping up to the plate is Blake Lively. We explain why Blake has a shot at competing with Gwyneth with the help of entertainment editor Maria Mercedes Lara. On Allie: Black Halo...
- 9/27/2013
- by Allie Merriam
- Popsugar.com
Chicago – The astonishing financial success of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera” is a testament to the enduring power of spectacle. Sure, Charles Hart and Robert Stilgoe’s pedestrian lyrics may have all the charm of plywood, but audiences couldn’t care less with an unstable chandelier dangling over their heads and a wealth of atmospheric scenery filling their field of vision.
What made “Opera” so memorable wasn’t the lyrics or even the love triangle between the beautiful Christine Daaé, the prissy Raoul and the mysterious Phantom. It was Webber’s melodies, particularly the iconic half-tone chords that open the show (which Roger Waters alleges was plagiarized from his song “Echoes”) that truly linger in audience’s memories. “Phantom” may not be a great show, but it certainly makes for a great night of live theatre.
Blu-ray Rating: 1.5/5.0
Webber’s inexplicable sequel, “Love Never Dies,” feels...
What made “Opera” so memorable wasn’t the lyrics or even the love triangle between the beautiful Christine Daaé, the prissy Raoul and the mysterious Phantom. It was Webber’s melodies, particularly the iconic half-tone chords that open the show (which Roger Waters alleges was plagiarized from his song “Echoes”) that truly linger in audience’s memories. “Phantom” may not be a great show, but it certainly makes for a great night of live theatre.
Blu-ray Rating: 1.5/5.0
Webber’s inexplicable sequel, “Love Never Dies,” feels...
- 6/5/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Making a sequel to a beloved production is always fraught with dangers. Such was the idea for Andrew Lloyd Webber to continue his most well known work. The results are certainly no Phantom, but maybe should not be consigned to the Paris sewers. It.s 1907 and ten years have passed since the events in the sewers beneath the Paris Opera House. The Phantom (Ben Lewis) still pines to hear the voice of Christine (Anna O.Byrne). He was spirited away to America with Madame Giry (Maria Mercedes) and her daughter Meg (Sharon Millerchip) and has set up a show on Coney Island that Meg is the star attraction of. However, he hears that Christine is on her way...
- 5/24/2012
- by Jeff Swindoll
- Monsters and Critics
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies is heading home via DVD, Blu-ray, Digital Download, and On Demand on May 29th from Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and we have two copies of the Blu-ray to give away to a pair of lucky Dread Central readers.
The ultimate love story continues in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s spectacular musical Love Never Dies, a sequel to the legendary Phantom of the Opera. From musical theater’s most captivating composer and featuring the new highly-acclaimed Australian production filmed in Melbourne, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies arrives on Blu-ray with perfect hi-def picture and perfect hi-def sound, DVD, Digital Download, and On Demand on May 29, 2012. With lush visuals and a mesmerizing score that rivals the original in power and beauty, this live production of Love Never Dies is a necessity for every Phantom fan’s collection.
The year is 1907, and ten years have...
The ultimate love story continues in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s spectacular musical Love Never Dies, a sequel to the legendary Phantom of the Opera. From musical theater’s most captivating composer and featuring the new highly-acclaimed Australian production filmed in Melbourne, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies arrives on Blu-ray with perfect hi-def picture and perfect hi-def sound, DVD, Digital Download, and On Demand on May 29, 2012. With lush visuals and a mesmerizing score that rivals the original in power and beauty, this live production of Love Never Dies is a necessity for every Phantom fan’s collection.
The year is 1907, and ten years have...
- 5/18/2012
- by The Woman In Black
- DreadCentral.com
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies is heading to home video on May 29th from Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and we've got a look at the cover art along with the bonus features you'll find included in the release.
From the Press Release:
The ultimate love story continues in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s spectacular musical Love Never Dies, a sequel to the legendary Phantom of the Opera. From musical theater’s most captivating composer and featuring the new highly-acclaimed Australian production filmed in Melbourne, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies arrives on Blu-ray with perfect hi-def picture and perfect hi-def sound, DVD, Digital Download, and On Demand on May 29, 2012. With lush visuals and a mesmerizing score that rivals the original in power and beauty, this live production of Love Never Dies is a necessity for every Phantom fan’s collection.
The year is 1907, and ten years have passed...
From the Press Release:
The ultimate love story continues in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s spectacular musical Love Never Dies, a sequel to the legendary Phantom of the Opera. From musical theater’s most captivating composer and featuring the new highly-acclaimed Australian production filmed in Melbourne, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies arrives on Blu-ray with perfect hi-def picture and perfect hi-def sound, DVD, Digital Download, and On Demand on May 29, 2012. With lush visuals and a mesmerizing score that rivals the original in power and beauty, this live production of Love Never Dies is a necessity for every Phantom fan’s collection.
The year is 1907, and ten years have passed...
- 4/27/2012
- by The Woman In Black
- DreadCentral.com
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