Angelina Jolie Gets Standing Ovation for ‘Cambodia’ Film at Telluride
- Details
- Published on Monday, 04 September 2017 03:12
- Written by Variety
It was a filmmaking experience that changed her life as well as the lives of survivors, Angelina Jolie told Telluride Film Festival attendees who screened her new Netflix film, “First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers,” which received a standing ovation. The audience affection seemed split between her movie and another labor of love, her children. Jolie attended the event with her entire brood of six: Maddox, 16; Pax, 13; Zahara, 12; Shiloh, 11 and twins Vivienne and Knox, 9.The project, which Jolie directed and co-wrote, documents author Loung Ung’s experience as a child soldier under the horrific Khmer Rouge regime that seized control of Cambodia in 1975, brutalizing the people in a reign of terror and genocide.The historical episode has special meaning for the Jolie family, since her son Maddox was adopted from a Cambodian orphanage in 2002. Jolie spoke movingly about her experience screening the film for Cambodian survivors, an effort that involved the cooperation of the king as well as the government.“We ended up at Terrace of the Elephant in Angkor Wat,” Jolie said, “which is very special to the Cambodian people, screening outside, and it was extraordinary. It was so moving to see everybody watch. A lot of them said that night they were able to talk about it for the first time.” Jolie underscored the global power of film to move hearts and minds.Relaxing onstage in a director’s chair alongside Ung after the screening, Jolie admitted that during a visit several years ago she was struck by how “ignorant” she was about what had happened in Cambodia. “I met people who had returned from the border camps, and was warned about land mines,” she recalled. “But most of all I met people whose spirits were high. They’re so generous. They’re so gracious. Their culture is so strong and I was so impressed by them. And during that trip I picked up a $2 book on a street corner, and it was [Ung’s] book. It changed my life.” “First They Killed My Father” is scheduled for a Sept. 15 premiere on Netflix.
 |
Angelina Jolie stuns in pretty white belted dress at photocall for new film First They Killed My Father
- Details
- Published on Monday, 04 September 2017 11:52
- Written by The Sun
The actress is firmly focusing on her latest film First They Killed My Father which she directs.SHE may have been hitting more headlines for her personal life rather than her career lately, but Angelina Jolie was firmly focusing on her latest film First They Killed My Father yesterday.The 42-year-old actress looked typically chic in a cream dress and black sash as she attended a photocall for the film in Los Angeles.Teaming her outfit with bright pink lipstick and nude heels, Angelina wore her brunette locks loose around her shoulders with dainty earrings adding to the look.The star directed the new film which is based on the best selling novel by Loung Ung and was shot in Cambodia back in 2015.It is based on the author's experiences during the barbaric Khmer Rouge years.Angelina has a personal connection with the country having adopted her son Maddox, 16, from there back in 2002 - the teen even worked as an executive producer on the flick.She said: "I wanted him to work hard and give back himself to his country."Angelina recently discussed her split from Brad Pitt for the first time, telling the September issue of Vanity Fair, that "things got bad" between the couple in the months leading up to their break up, adding that "things became difficult".The A-list couple shocked the world when they announced their two-year marriage - and 12 year relationship - was over in September last year.After the initial media furore around the split died down, the couple agreed to sort out the terms of their divorce and custody of their six children in private.Angelina added to the publication: "It's just been the hardest time, and we're just kind of coming up for air." Having moved into rented accommodation in the wake of the break up, the 42-year-old purchased a $25 million mansion in Los Feliz, California and moved in just four days before the interview took place.Of her new family home, Angelina - who looks as beautiful as ever on the magazine's cover - said it was "a big jump forward for us, and we're all trying to do our best to heal as a family."Brad, 53, and Angelina have six children together: Maddox, 15, Pax, 13, Shiloh, 11, Zahara, 12 and twins Vivienne and Knox, nine.During her time with her kids since the split, Angelina said she has been trying to: "be really good at just being a homemaker and picking up dog poop and cleaning dishes and reading bedtime stories."While the couple - who met on the set of 2004 movie Mr and Mrs Smith - were unable to make their marriage work, Angelina insisted they "care for each other and care for our family, and we are both working towards the same goal".
 |
Angelina Jolie to Lead Talk at Toronto Film Festival 2017!
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 24 August 2017 11:26
- Written by Just Jared
Angelina Jolie will take part in a public talk during this year’s Toronto Film Festival.The news was announced moments ago that Angelina, Javier Bardem, and Helen Mirren will each headline their own conversation during the annual festival, Variety reports.Angelina will be at the festival for her Netflix film First They Killed My Father, which she directed, produced, and co-wrote, and another film, The Breadwinner, where she acted as a producer.The Toronto Film Festival is set to take place from September 7 to September 17.
 |
Angelina Jolie’s First They Killed My Father Trailer and Key Art
- Details
- Published on Wednesday, 02 August 2017 17:30
- Written by Coming soon
Netflix has revealed the trailer and key art for Angelina Jolie’s original film First They Killed My Father, which will launch on Friday, September 15 in theaters and globally on Netflix. Check out the First They Killed My Father trailer below, along with key art in the gallery.Directed by Angelina Jolie (Unbroken, By the Sea), First They Killed My Father is the adaptation of Cambodian author and human rights activist Loung Ung’s gripping memoir of surviving the deadly Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1978. The story is told through her eyes, from the age of five, when the Khmer Rouge came to power, to nine years old. The film depicts the indomitable spirit and devotion of Loung and her family as they struggle to stay together during the Khmer Rouge years.First They Killed My Father is a Netflix original film produced by Angelina Jolie and acclaimed Cambodian director and producer Rithy Panh, director of the Oscar-nominated The Missing Picture. Loung Ung, Maddox Jolie-Pitt, Adam Somner (Bridge of Spies), Michael Vieira (By the Sea) and Charles Schissel (The Prestige) are executive producers, and Academy Award winner Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire) serves as director of photography.
 |
Angelina Jolie Refutes Vanity Fair Excerpt Depicting Controversial Casting Process: ‘I Am Upset’
- Details
- Published on Friday, 04 August 2017 18:45
- Written by Variety
Angelina Jolie is refuting a Vanity Fair cover story that described a controversial casting process for her movie “First They Killed My Father.” According to the excerpt, Jolie and her casting associates placed money on a table and allowed the children auditioning for the Cambodian film to take it. However, after taking the money, the director then “caught” the kids, and forced them to explain why they needed the cash. Srey Moch was ultimately chosen for the part. “Moch was the only child that stared at the money for a very, very long time,” Jolie is quoted as saying. “When she was forced to give it back, she became overwhelmed with emotion. All these different things came flooding back. When she was asked later what the money was for, she said her grandfather had died, and they didn’t have enough money for a nice funeral.” Angelina Jolie Opens Up About Brad Pitt Divorce, Reveals Bell’s Palsy Diagnosis. Jolie now says that the process described in the profile was misconstrued, and was “a pretend exercise in an improvisation, from an actual scene in the film.” In a statement to Variety on Sunday, Jolie noted that she was “upset” by the allegations.
“The suggestion that real money was taken from a child during an audition is false and upsetting,” she wrote. “I would be outraged myself if this had happened.” “First They Killed My Father” is based on the 2000 book by Loung Ung. The story is a personal retelling of Ung’s survival of the Pol Pot regime. The film will be released on Netflix in September.
Statements from Angelina Jolie and producer Rithy Panh — who himself is a survivor of the Khmer Rouge — can be viewed in full below: Jolie: Every measure was taken to ensure the safety, comfort and well-being of the children on the film starting from the auditions through production to the present. Parents, guardians, partner NGOs whose job it is to care for children, and medical doctors were always on hand everyday, to ensure everyone had all they needed. And above all to make sure that no one was in any way hurt by participating in the recreation of such a painful part of their country’s history. I am upset that a pretend exercise in an improvisation, from an actual scene in the film, has been written about as if it was a real scenario. The suggestion that real money was taken from a child during an audition is false and upsetting. I would be outraged myself if this had happened. The point of this film is to bring attention to the horrors children face in war, and to help fight to protect them.
Panh: I want to comment on recent reports about the casting process for Angelina Jolie’s ‘First They Killed My Father,’ which grossly mischaracterize how child actors were selected for the film, and I want to clear up the misunderstandings.Because so many children were involved in the production, Angelina and I took the greatest care to ensure their welfare was protected. Our goal was to respect the realities of war, while nurturing everyone who helped us to recreate it for the film.The casting was done in the most sensitive way possible. The children were from different backgrounds. Some were underprivileged; others were not. Some were orphans. All of the children were tended to at all times by relatives or carers from the NGOs responsible for them. The production team followed the families’ preferences and the NGO organizations’ guidelines. Some of the auditions took place on the NGOs’ premises.Ahead of the screen tests, the casting crew showed the children the camera and the sound recording material. It explained to them that they were going to be asked to act out a part: to pretend to steal petty cash or a piece of food left unattended and then get caught in the act. It relates to a real episode from the life of Loung Ung, and a scene in the movie, when she and her siblings were caught by the Khmer Rouge and accused of stealing.
The purpose of the audition was to improvise with the children and explore how a child feels when caught doing something he or she is not supposed to be doing.We wanted to see how they would improvise when their character is found ‘stealing’ and how they would justify their action. The children were not tricked or entrapped, as some have suggested. They understood very well that this was acting, and make believe. What made Srey Moch, who was chosen for the lead role of Loung Ung, so special was that she said that she would want the money not for herself, but for her grandfather.Great care was taken with the children not only during auditions, but throughout the entirety of the film’s making. They were accompanied on set by their parents, other relatives or tutors. Time was set aside for them to study and play. The children’s well-being was monitored by a special team each day, including at home, and contact continues to the present. Because the memories of the genocide are so raw, and many Cambodians still have difficulty speaking about their experiences, a team of doctors and therapists worked with us on set every day so that anyone from the cast or crew who wanted to talk could do so.The children gave their all in their performances and have made all of us in the production, and, I believe, in Cambodia, very proud.
 |
Share
