In “A Letter to Elia,” an hour-long documentary screening at the Venice film festival, Scorsese credits Kazan and his emotionally-charged, raw and realistic style as the inspiration for his becoming a filmmaker.

He recalls in particular the huge impact that two of Kazan’s best-known films, “On the Waterfront” with Marlon Brando (1954) and “East of Eden” with James Dean (1955), had on him as a teenager.

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Take a moment to watch the new trailer for The Battle of Brooklyn, the stunning feature-length film about eminent domain abuse, and if you like what you see, please consider making a donation to ensure that it reaches the widest possible audience. The Battle of Brooklyn tells the story of a community’s struggle to stop government and private developers from seizing homes and businesses in order to build a basketball arena and sixteen high-rises in the heart of Brooklyn. The film is finished and will premiere at a major festival in the coming months. Your support is vital to making sure this happens, so please consider contributing... more

“Stanley Kubrick allowed his then-17-year-old daughter, Vivian, to make a documentary about the production of The Shining. Created all originally for the British television show BBC Arena, the documentary offers rare insight into the shooting process of a Kubrick film.”

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Abolishing the most successful film support organisation the UK has ever had is a bad decision, imposed without any consultation or evaluation. People will rightly look back on today’s announcement and say it was a big mistake, driven by short-term thinking and political expediency. British film, which is one of the UK’s more successful growth industries, deserves better. -Tim Bevan, Chairman of the UK Film Council

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While many recognize Christopher Nolan for his big break-out indie Memento, his first feature film was actually a super low-budget black & white indie called Following (which also just so happens to feature a character named “Cobb” in it like Inception does). Based on the recent success of all of Nolan’s movies, IFC Films has decided to re-release Following in theaters and on-demand.

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