Tag: foreign films

Posted on

71st DGA Awards Recap and Winners

 

The World Wide team was pleased to be in attendance at the 71st DGA awards held at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Hollywood this past Sunday (Feb 3rd). Despite the rainy weather which soaked the red carpet, the stars were in attendance to show their support for the nominated directors. There was another win for Alfonso Cuaron, director of ROMA which is a good thing for Foreign Language Films like the upcoming release of WWMPC’s THE ROAD TO MOTHER!

As the ceremony commenced, it was clear that this year’s DGA Awards were especially friendly to independent-leaning films like Alfonso Cuaron's ROMA, Peter Farrelly’s GREEN BOOK, and Bo Burnham’s EIGHTH GRADE. With recognition going to veterans like Spike Lee for BLACKKKLANSMAN and new directors like Bradley Cooper for A STAR IS BORN, the nominations for a wide variety of feature film and television projects appear to be becoming more diverse in both genre and story.

Diversity was a major theme of this year’s awards for both in front of and behind the camera, and was well-served with the wide variety of artists and filmmakers both new and old in attendance.

A few of the evenings highlights were:

Further recognition was afforded the UPM department (Unit Production Manager) for Kathleen McGill as well as the Directing teams including 1st and 2nd AD’s (Assistant Director) like Michael “Shelley” Ziegler (A STAR IS BORN) and Matt Rebenkoff (VICE).

All of the feature film directors were recognized, most being introduced by the stars of their films like John David Washington, Laura Harrier and Topher Grace for BLACKKKLANSMAN, Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira for ROMA, Christian Bale for VICE, as well as a touching introduction from Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali and Linda Cardellini for GREEN BOOK director Peter Farrelly.

Jordan Peele humorously delighted the crowd as he presented the award for First-Time Feature Film Director which went to 24-year-old Bo Burnham for the film EIGHTH GRADE. In his speech Burnham claimed that he didn’t see this as “a room of his peers, but rather a room full of people he admired”

.

Also spotlighted at this year’s awards were documentaries like THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS, directed by Tim Wardle.

We hope the momentum for recognizing foreign language films continues into the 91st Academy Awards later this month and beyond.

Posted on

Directors Guild Awards Foreign Film Nominees – Getting Deserved Recognition

 

Awards Season is upon us, including the upcoming DGA Awards on February 2, 2019, and It looks as though foreign language films like Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma and Pawel Pawlikowski's Cold War are receiving more recognition this year at awards ceremonies than in past years. Hopefully this will start a trend with American cinema because, as we all know, some of the best quality films are from different parts of the world, which has always been a challenge for American audiences. “We just don’t like to read subtitles,” but the stories and production value can be exceptional. The World Wide Motion Pictures team will be attending this year’s Director’s Guild of America (DGA) Awards ceremony in Los Angeles and we’ll be excited to see if this shift towards foreign language films continues.

With World Wide's upcoming release of the epic film The Road to Mother from Kazakhstan, directed by Akan Satayev, we’re hopeful that American audiences will be more willing to give these foreign language films a chance when competing against the big studio superhero productions like The Avengers, Wonder Woman and Black Panther. Although popcorn movies are crowd pleasers, it’’s refreshing to see the change going on in the US market. This shift gives the impression that The Road to Mother, with its wonderful acting, direction, writing and overall great family story will be a success in theaters this Spring!

Posted on

Kanopy Successfully Releases WWMPC Films

 

We at World Wide Motion Pictures are pleased to inform our friends, associates, and shareholders around the world that the arrangement the company recently entered into with Kanopy LLC of San Francisco has resulted in successful sales of the recently released films, WAYS TO LIVE FOREVER and THE NIGHTINGALE. Kanopy is a specialized sub-distributor concentrating on the closed caption, closed circuit presentation of film and television product directly streamed into classrooms and local and national library systems around the world.

Students and faculty at several Ivy League Universities such as Yale University, Duke University, and Stanford University, have taken a liking to our feature films. Along with many other respected institutions across the country such as The New York Public Library, World Wide is connecting directly through Kanopy. “Having an additional Marketing Window specifically for universities and library systems will be a very welcome component in the company’s future,” stated Paul Hancock, CEO of World Wide.

THE NIGHTINGALE, directed by Philippe Muyl, is a heartening film that examines Chinese family values, traditions, and generational differences between a grandfather and his over indulged granddaughter. WAYS TO LIVE FOREVER, directed by Gustavo Ron, follows an inquisitive 12-year-old boy who is curious about the world and life experiences. Because he suffers from leukemia, he wants to learn more about growing up and how to deal with mortality.

As we continue to move forward into the new year, World Wide is focusing on introducing to our audiences, high quality Feature Films from around the world. Inasmuch as it has been become increasingly difficult in recent years for distributors to release feature films in the U.S. theatrically, this particular window offers a wonderful opportunity for an additional Gross Corridor. The corporation looks forward to growing its new relationship with Kanopy, and is excited to release recent foreign films to customers throughout North America. World Wide’s industry executives and board members have produced, distributed, and consulted on a wide variety of film and television projects, earning Academy Awards, Emmy Awards, and prizes from international film festivals.

We invite you to enjoy our films through Kanopy or any of our platforms such as Vimeo and the company’s Indie Movie Store.