SWERVE in cinemas June 7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP64GgO6fMU

SWERVE will open nationally on June 7 at the following cinemas:


VICTORIA
Nova, Hoyts Chadstone, Village Jam Factory, Village Southland, Village Knox, Rosebud


NEW SOUTH WALES
Hoyts Cinema Paris, Avalon, Avoca Beach, Wagga Wagga, Tamworth, Orange


SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Marion, Mitcham, Mt Barker, Noarlunga


WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Luna Leederville

REBELLION - NOW SCREENING

REBELLION is now showing at the following cinemas:

VIC - Cinema Nova

NSW - Hoyts Cinema Paris, Avoca Beach

SA - Palace Nova Eastend

TAS - State Cinema Hobart

QLD - Blue Room Cinebar (opens Apr 19)

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad/la-haine-director-decides-to-rebel/story-fn6cc2fg-1226324113219

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/pacific-beat/controversy-over-new-caledonia-rebellion-film/893484

4 STARS “Vibrantly intelligent and entertaining” Simon Foster, SBS

“A rare piece of filmmaking, a triumph from a director who has the skill, and the will, to commit his cinema to truth telling without compromise. Absorbing and gripping. Highly recommended” Julie Rigg, ABC Radio National

4 STARS “Some of the most thrilling military sequences in recent memory. Filled to the brim with amazing characters and confident filmmaking… exciting, kinetic, tense” Lee Zachariah, THE BIG ISSUE

“History at its most fascinating” Margaret Pomeranz, AT THE MOVIES

“Gripping. Kassovitz gives an impassioned performance” David Stratton, THE AUSTRALIAN

“An immersive, educational experience” Neala Johnson, HERALD SUN

“Gripping and impassioned” Nick Dent, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

“A powerfully direct story” Paul Byrnes, SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

“Superbly made in every respect. Extraordinarily effective” URBAN CINEFILE

“Gut-wrenching. Tense, visceral… impressively shot” FILMINK

REBELLION: Philippa Hawker interviews Mathieu Kassovitz for The Age

French actor and director Mathieu Kassovitz has focused his lens - and anger - on French colonialism and a crisis in New Caledonia in 1988.

MATHIEU Kassovitz intends that audiences watching his new movie, Rebellion, ''feel the heat''. He wants people to understand the background to real-life events that unfolded during a hostage crisis in the French territory of New Caledonia in 1988. He also wants the movie to be ''cinematic as well as real''.

''You have two hours to explain a situation that sprawled over 10 days and 150 years of history. You need to find ways to get the audience to understand what you're talking about,'' he said. ''To sum up all the backstory and at the time be entertaining. And not too much of a sellout, because you are talking about people being killed. These people are in the theatre, and on the set, and it's not just about making it cool.''

Kassovitz wrote, directed and starred in the movie, which has been years in the making. Rebellion leaves us in no doubt, from the opening scene, that the conclusion was bloody and brutal. It then sets out to show us how this happened, counting down events day by day. It started when pro-independence activists seized a police station; things spiralled out of control, and three gendarmes were killed. A deft flashback sequence shows this.

The activists' leader, Alphonse Dianou (Iabe Lapacas), then took 27 gendarmes hostage. An experienced negotiator from the French armed forces, Philippe Legorjus (played by Kassovitz), is sent in. But he discovers politicians back in France, in the midst of a presidential campaign, are driven by the PR imperative. They want things wrapped up quickly, by force, no matter how dangerous this might be.

It was vital, Kassovitz says, to consult widely with the local communities, for whom these events and their aftermath are still raw and contentious, ''out of respect for the people, and the story''. Many of those playing Kanak characters were close to those they portrayed, he says: one key person is played by the man's brother, another by his son.

As an actor, Kassovitz might be best known for his role in Amelie: he made his name as a writer-director with La Haine (1995), his powerful examination of racism and alienation in the Paris suburbs.

He thinks that Rebellion is his best film, and he is frustrated, he says, that it has not had the exposure he had hoped for. He took to Twitter recently to express his anger at the single nomination the film received in the Cesars, France's equivalent of the Academy Awards. It was not because he cares about awards, he says, but because he was disappointed at ''the lack of interest by the French intelligentsia for movies like this. There are not many like it. This one means something, it was a struggle.''

To Kassovitz, the story of what happened in 1988 is still unresolved. ''The problem with France is that we don't apologise - we wonder why we should. And I don't think that's right.'' In Australia, he notes, then prime minister Kevin Rudd apologised to Aboriginal people, and he thinks France should follow this example.

''Even if it wasn't you, even if it wasn't your family or your fathers, you need to apologise, so that people can carry on. That's why we made the movie,'' he said.

Rebellion opens on April 12 at selected cinemas.

SWERVE announces Australian and North American distribution

Jump Street Films will release Craig Lahiff’s SWERVE as part of its strategic positioning platform, together with the film’s distribution company Duo Art Entertainment.

A simultaneous release date with the North American opening is planned for later this year.

Moviehouse Entertainment yesterday announced at Berlin’s European Film Market that the film has sold to the Cohen Media Group for North America and High Fliers for the United Kingdom. This adds to the film’s previous sales to Italy, Germany and the Middle East, with offers currently pending for France, Benelux, Scandinavia, Latin America and China.

A sexy and explosive Australian noir, SWERVE is written and directed by Craig Lahiff (BLACK AND WHITE, HEAVEN’S BURNING). SWERVE stars Jason Clarke, Emma Booth and David Lyons – Australia’s up and coming stars on the international stage – with a great supporting cast of Vince Colosimo, Travis McMahon, Roy Billing and Chris Haywood.

The tightly paced thriller was an audience favourite at the prestigious Hamptons International Film Festival in New York State recently. It had its world premiere at last year’s Melbourne International Film Festival and will open next month’s Australian Film Festival in Sydney.

REBELLION releasing April 12

Jump Street Films Developing New Content

Jump Street Films is partnering with a US-based private equity group on a multi-purpose company that will incorporate finance, production, distribution and sales.
Jump Street Films will develop and acquire feature films with an Australian connection that have international viability. We are now seeking submissions for partially-packaged, quality commercial films to produce under the 5 to 25 million dollar budget range.
Leveraging an existing opportunity in the marketplace, the group will also handle international sales out of NY and LA, combining significant experience across all components. Jump Street Films will have the first option to distribute the films in Australia before they are taken to marketplace.
Further details will be released at a later date.

Jump Street Films moves into multi-service strategic positioning

Jump Street Films will expand its core distribution business to act as a strategic consultant for Australian filmmakers looking to position their films in the marketplace. The service will specialize in publicity strategy for films in pre-production and production, and theatrical/ancillary campaign strategy for films in post-production.

Company director Jamie Bialkower will manage the new strand together with Diana Peters, former Vice President of Publicity for The Weinstein Company. Activity has already commenced on Richard Gray’s BLINDER, to be shot in Torquay in February.

“In this day and age when filmmakers are increasingly acting as their own distributors, and the traditional distribution structures are constantly evolving, we want to work closely with the client to formulate the best way for their film to reach viewers”, Bialkower said. “Diana and I have both worked across distribution and publicity for a number of years, in different countries, and we feel that the combined resources we can offer are very much linked and stronger together.”

Jump Street Films will also formally announce a partnership with a New York-based production company in the coming weeks.

Having recently distributed (together with Sharmill Films) Richard Gray’s SUMMER CODA, and previously developed a comprehensive national release and publicity campaign for Dean O’Flaherty’s BEAUTIFUL, on behalf of Kojo Pictures, the next release for Jump Street Films will be Mathieu Kassovitz’s REBELLION in March 2012. Past acquisitions include THE GROCER’S SON, THE ECLIPSE, A GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING YOUR SAINTS and THE KING, and together with Sharmill Films THE ITALIAN, EDEN IS WEST and COPACABANA.

COPACABANA RELEASING ON DVD NOVEMBER 2