Latest news on Goran's film "Helen" w/Ashley Judd

[AzizalSaqr]

From: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/etoday/story.html?id=48c835ce-20b3-4e10-95a7-815d0c4b8667

Who filmed what here in 2008?

We round up the past year's local film and television shoots
Glen Schaefer, The Province
Published: Sunday, December 28, 2008

Some Vancouver actors are heading to this January's Sundance Film Festival with a film they wrapped last January, the drama Helen starring Ashley Judd and Goran Visnjic.

Judd stars in German director Sandra Nettelbeck's movie as a psychiatrist battling depression. Canadians Lauren Lee Smith, Alexia Fast and Ali Liebert are among the supporting cast, and they'll be joining Judd in Utah for Helen's premiere. The movie was among a diverse collection of smaller-budget features filming in and around Vancouver last year, jostling for locations and crew with the mega-movies and TV series.

Here's how Vancouver's star meter ticked over during the year:

Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart showed up in January for a two-month shoot on the romantic drama Traveling, in which she plays a flower-seller and he's a widowed self-help author. Aniston's Vancouver work trip was part of a whirlwind year that took her to Miami afterwards for Marley & Me and then to L.A. for He's Just Not That Into You. How does she find the time to get the abs in shape for all those magazine covers?
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A couple of 2008 mega-movies were already rolling as 2008 began. Watchmen started mid-September 2007 and continued until mid-February on sets that included several blocks of a New York streetscape built in south Burnaby. The dark comic-book adaptation is one of the most anticipated movies of 2009, set for a March 6 release.

"I guess for me, first of all, Watchmen is the work that made intellectual, thinking deep thoughts OK in a comic," director Zack Snyder (300) mused on set. "It made it OK to be an adult and read a comic, or at least perceive yourself as, look, I'm literate, I read Watchmen."

That movie will be looking to cross over from fans of the cult-hit graphic novel to the mainstream.

"I can't help but want people to love what we're doing," said actor Patrick Wilson, among the art-house ensemble playing the movie's self-doubting superheroes. "You want to bring in people who haven't seen [the comic book]."

The movie uses a mix of CGI and real sets to create a gritty 1980s New York that mixes fantasy locales and superheroes with real figures from recent history.
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The Day the Earth Stood Still, currently in theatres, started work at Vancouver Film Studios in December and wrapped mid-March. Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly and Jaden Smith starred in the remake about an inscrutable alien who sparks a global panic. No point guessing who plays the alien. Simon Fraser University had an extended cameo as a military facility, and Jaden's superstar dad Will was a frequent set visitor.
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Director Chris Carter and stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson came back to Vancouver at the beginning of the year after years away, for the feature X Files: I Want to Believe. Duchovny hit it off so well with supporting player Callum Keith Rennie that he invited the Vancouver actor to L.A. to join him on the second season of his sexy Showtime TV series Californication. I Want to Believe was in theatres last July, a quick turnaround by feature film standards.
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No word on a North American release date yet for Personal Effects, a smaller scale drama with Michelle Pfeiffer and Ashton Kutcher that wrapped two months filming last January. SFU was a popular site for the movie folk this year -- Personal Effects, about an ex-wrestler trying to solve a murder, spent several days atop Burnaby Mountain as well, filming wrestling scenes.
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Jude Law, Colin Farrell and Johnny Depp slipped in and out of Vancouver separately early in the year to film scenes for director Terry Gilliam's fantasy The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. Star Heath Ledger died after filming exteriors in London on the movie. When the production moved to Vancouver, the superstar trio stepped in to play versions of Ledger's character after Gilliam rewrote his script.
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On the TV production side, the year started off with a grinding halt as a half-dozen series suspended production in January due to the U.S. writers' strike. The writers went back to their laptops by mid-February, and the TV scene was humming within weeks.

Unscathed by the strike was the sci-fi series Stargate: Atlantis, with a mostly Canadian writing staff. That show filmed its last season this year, and the producers are launching a new series, Stargate: Universe, next year. Amanda Tapping, the Canadian who starred in 10 years of the original Stargate SG-1 and guest-starred frequently in Atlantis, moved on to the entirely Canadian-produced Sanctuary, a paranormal series about an ageless monster-hunter. Sanctuary starts its second season early in the new year.

One series that didn't last the year was Men In Trees, the cancelled ABC romance starring Anne Heche and Canadian James Tupper alongside a mostly Canadian supporting cast. Off-screen couple Heche and Tupper kept their place in West Vancouver, though, and hosted a summer farewell party for the cast and crew.

TV's Battlestar Galactica, which wrapped four seasons this year with a feature-length TV movie, had an especially strong contingent of Canadian actors in its ensemble, with X-Files' Rennie joined by Grace Park, Michael Hogan, Tricia Helfer and several others playing either humans or their cyborg enemies.

"We did the M.O.W., the webisodes, then they took everything down," said Park of the popular show's farewell. "Everything's been catalogued, it's going for sale, it's done. You'd have to rebuild everything."

It was a fond farewell. Park has gone on to multiple jobs in Vancouver, L.A. and Toronto as have a number of her co-stars similarly boosted by the show's success.
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Have the U.S. networks gotten over their snobbery about hiring Canadians for feature TV roles? Sure looks like it -- Reaper, Smallville, Kyle XY, The L Word and the new show Harper's Island also feature substantial recurring roles for Canadians.

Meanwhile a Canadian cast got to play Canadians in the second season of Global's coast guard adventure series The Guard, filmed on and around Howe Sound.
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Back on the movie front, some of the players behind the Vancouver-filmed Juno came back to the city last spring to make Jennifer's Body, a horror comedy penned by Oscar-winning Juno writer Diablo Cody. Megan Fox stars as a man-eating zombie cheerleader, with Adam Brody as a musician who sells his soul to the devil.

Also in on the cheerleader action was Heroes star Hayden Panettiere, whose high-school comedy I Love You, Beth Cooper was filming across the North Shore Studios lot from Jennifer's Body. Panettiere's director was Harry Potter's Chris Columbus, back in Home Alone territory: "I'd forgotten how much I love doing comedy."

The intimate family drama Dim Sum Funeral filmed in a Surrey mansion for a month in the spring with stars Talia Shire, Bai Ling and Vancouver's Steph Song in a story about estranged adult siblings. The movie had its North American premiere close to home, at this month's Whistler Film Festival.

Another smaller movie going to camera in spring 2008 was the teen thriller Deep Cove, starring Hayley Duff and Aaron Ashmore. Toronto's Ashmore couldn't get away from Vancouver this year, what with his recurring role as Jimmy Olsen on Smallville and another thriller, the Canadian-produced ecological drama The Thaw, filmed in the summer in Williams Lake and Surrey with Song, Superbad's Martha MacIsaac and Val Kilmer.

Another Canadian-produced feature that headed up-country this summer was Cole, which took an up-and-coming cast (Sonja Bennett, Kandyse McClure, Richard de Klerk and Michael Eisner) to Lytton for some small-town drama.
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From May to September, Ben Stiller was back in town reprising his role as a security guard in the kids fantasy Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian. Amy Adams joined him as aviator Amelia Earhart, a museum exhibit come to life. Hundreds of workers spent weeks building the movie's elaborate sets in Burnaby's Mammoth Studios and a ship hangar in North Vancouver

When Stiller's crew were finished with that cavernous North Van hangar, John Cusack, director Roland Emmerich and crew took it over in July as one of the sets for their end-of-the-world epic 2012. That movie also used Ashcroft exteriors and finished filming in mid-December on a budget estimated at close to $200 million US.

Wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne Johnson showed up in September with Ashley Judd, Julie Andrews and Billy Crystal for the kids' movie Tooth Fairy, abut a pro hockey player who gets a magical new assignment. Apparently Johnson can't skate, so he was pushed around the ice at the University of B.C.'s Thunderbird Arena on a little sled. We'll see how it turned out when the movie opens Nov. 13.

The kids-movie spy sequel Cats and Dogs: the Revenge of Kitty Galore had animals battling for control of the world through the fall at Vancouver's City Hall, Playland and soundstage sets in south Burnaby.

Back at the smaller end of the budget scale, last September Erika Christensen and Jesse Metcalfe played grieving parents looking for revenge in The Tortured. That movie took advantage of the Vancouver Art Gallery's third-floor heritage courtroom.

Another smaller movie was Frankie and Alice, which brought frequent visitor Halle Berry back to Vancouver to star as a woman with multiple personalities.

Canadian writer-director Sook-Yin Lee came to Maple Ridge for her feature debut, the comic drama Year of the Carnivore starring U.S. actor Cristin Milioti and Canadians Will Sasso and Ali Liebert.
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It was a slow year for Canadian-created TV series in Vancouver, but that's likely to change in the new year with two promising pilots in the can. Writer-producer Brent Butt created Hiccups, which stars his wife and Corner Gas co-star Nancy Robertson as a grumpy children's author, while writer Rick Drew and producers Debra and Hugh Beard joined forces to make the crime drama Shattered, which stars the popular Callum Keith Rennie as a traumatized ex-cop whose various personalities team up to catch bad guys.

As the year ended a couple of features were continuing work into January: The martial arts vid-game adaptation King of Fighters, starring Maggie Q and Ray Park; and director Joe Dante's 3-D family thriller The Hole.

Dante isn't sure what's next for him when this movie wraps in February, but it probably means time away from his L.A. home. "I have only worked in Vancouver for the past 10 years, except for one movie in Hollywood," he said on his Richmond soundstage. "It's just the way the business is."

[AzizalSaqr]

The latest on Helen screenings at Sundance from The Little Film Company

WORLD PREMIERE SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL (Spectrum)

>Friday, Jan. 16, 8:45pm -Library Center Theatre, Park City

>Saturday, Jan. 17, 8:30am-Yarrow Hotel Theatre (Press & Industry)

>Saturday, Jan. 17, 9:30pm-Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, Salt Lake City

>Monday, Jan. 19, 11:30pm-Library Center Theatre, Park City

>Thursday, Jan. 22, 11:15am-Racquet Club, Park City

>Saturday, Jan. 24, 6:30pm-Redstone Cinemas, Kimball Junction

Helen is beautiful, intelligent and seems to have it all. Happily married to David, she enjoys a loving relationship with her teenage daughter from a previous marriage, and teaches at the local university. Yet Helen is hiding a secret which gradually penetrates the very fabric of her well-being. David loves and supports her unconditionally, but at times she becomes inaccessible and withdrawn. When she meets Mathilda, Helen understands they share a common bond and--courageously struggling out of her own quagmire--she tries desperately to help her. Helen takes us on a journey without easy departures. It is a portrait of a marriage and a story of friendship—of courage, devotion, and the triumph of love

[AzizalSaqr]

From: http://festival.sundance.org/2009/film_events/films/helen/



Helen
International Narrative Feature Films
Canada/Germany, 2008, 120 mins., color

Director(s): Sandra Nettelbeck
Screenwriter(s): Sandra Nettelbeck
Executive Producers: Kirk Shaw, Jens Meurer, Robbie Little, Simon Fawcett
Producers: Judy Tossell, Christine Haebler
Cinematographer: Michael Bertl
Production Designer: Linda Del Rosario
Costume Designer: Bettina Helmi

Description:

Featuring a riveting performance by the gifted Ashley Judd and infused with intelligence and detail by Sandra Nettelbeck, a storyteller who clearly knows intimately the parameters of this universe, Helen transcends the usual limitations that besiege portraits of mental illness and depression. In truth, for all that we’ve learned about depression—its causes, its cures, and the breadth of its affliction—the old clichés and stigmas still dominate our tales and popular culture. What Nettelbeck and her colleagues have accomplished is an unapologetically moving examination that offers no simplistic answers and refrains from reductively singular happy endings.Helen focuses on a woman with an apparently perfect life: a successful academic, she seems happily married with a wonderful daughter. But we witness a sudden breakdown and a journey that is enigmatic and heartbreakingly real. When solutions prove elusive and Helen is hospitalized, she forges a relationship with Mathilda, a fellow traveler who both aids and traumatizes her life’s course. When death seems the only answer, and the safe haven of family gives no respite, the pain of bipolarity is exhausting and overwhelming. Told with poignancy and insight—and ultimately concluding with as much courage as inevitable sadness—Helen is the work of artists whose craft and sensibility are special.
CAST
Ashley Judd, Goran Visnjic, Lauren Lee Smith, Alexia Fast, Alberta Watson, David Hewlett
Sandra Nettelbeck -

Bio:

Sandra Nettelbeck was born in 1966 in Hamburg, Germany, and studied film production at San Francisco State University. After leaving the United States, she worked as a television journalist for a couple of years and made her debut directing the feature-length television movie Loose Ends (1995). In 2001 she completed her theatrical feature debut, Mostly Martha, followed by her second feature, Sergeant Pepper, in 2004. Helen is the fifth feature film she has written and directed.

Screenings:

Fri. Jan 16 8:45 p.m. - HELEN16LN Library Center Theatre, Park City
Sat. Jan 17 9:30 p.m. - HELEN17GN Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, SLC
Mon. Jan 19 11:30 p.m. - HELEN19LL Library Center Theatre, Park City
Thu. Jan 22 11:15 a.m. - HELEN22RD Racquet Club, Park City
Sat. Jan 24 6:30 p.m. - HELEN24DE Redstone Cinemas, Kimball Junction
Spectrum

[AzizalSaqr]

From: http://www.sltrib.com/entertainment/ci_11399522

Good news all, looks like Goran is due to attend Sundance, that means you'll want to tape the daily updates on The Sundance Channel ...here's the list of who else is expected to attend.

Sundance celebrities: Anybody who's anybody -- and some who aren't

Look for these familiar faces at Sundance '09

By Sean P. Means
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 01/07/2009 04:57:01 PM MST


Charlene Yi stars in "Paper Heart," which premieres at the 2009 Sundance... (Courtesy of Sundance)

Look for these familiar faces at Sundance '09:

Celebrity's name » Why it's familiar » Why he or she is at Sundance

Kevin Bacon » "Frost/Nixon," "Footloose" » "Taking Chance" (U.S. Dramatic)

Benjamin Bratt » "Law & Order," "Miss Congeniality" » "La Mission" (Spectrum)

Talisa Soto Bratt » "Licence to Kill," "Mortal Kombat" » "La Mission" (Spectrum)

Christie Brinkley » supermodel, ex-wife of Billy Joel » Launching new "got milk?" ad

Saffron Burrows » "Deep Blue Sea," "The Bank Job" » "Shrink" (Premieres)

Rose Byrne » "Troy," "Damages" » "Adam" (U.S. Dramatic)


Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg star in "Adventureland," which premieres at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance)


Jim Carrey » "Yes Man," "The Truman Show" » "I Love You Phillip Morris" (Premieres)

Michael Cera » "Superbad," "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist" » "Paper Heart" (U.S. Dramatic)

Anna Chlumsky » "My Girl" » "In the Loop" (Spectrum)

Dominic Cooper » "Mamma Mia!," "The History Boys" » "Brief Interviews With Hideous Men" (U.S. Dramatic)

Hugh Dancy » "The Jane Austen Book Club," "Evening" » "Adam" (U.S. Dramatic)

Zooey Deschanel » "Yes Man," "Elf" » "500 Days of Summer" (Premieres)

Rachel Dratch » "Saturday Night Live" » "Spring Breakdown" (Park City at Midnight)

Jesse Eisenberg » "The Squid and the Whale" » "Adventureland" (Premieres)

Peter Gallagher » "sex, lies and videotape," "The O.C." » "Adam" (U.S. Dramatic)


Rose Byrne and Hugh Dancy star in "Adam," which premieres at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance)

James Gandolfini » "The Sopranos," "The Last Castle" » "In the Loop" (Spectrum)

Paul Giamatti » "Sideways," "Fred Claus" » "Cold Souls" (U.S.

Bobcat Goldthwait » Stand-up comedian » "World's Greatest Dad" (Spectrum)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt » "Stop-Loss," "3rd Rock From the Sun" » "500 Days of Summer" (Premieres)

Bill Hader » "Saturday Night Live," "Superbad" » "Adventureland" (Premieres)

Mark Harmon » "St. Elsewhere," "NCIS" » "Weather Girl" (Slamdance)

Nick Hornby » Author ( High Fidelity, About a Boy, Fever Pitch ) » "An Education" (World Cinema Dramatic)

Ashley Judd » "Kiss the Girls," "Double Jeopardy" » "Helen" (Spectrum)

Jamie Kennedy » "Scream," "The Ghost Whisperer" » "Finding Bliss" (Slamdance)


John Krasinski wrote, directed and stars in "Brief Interviews With Hideous Men," which premieres at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance)» "Finding Bliss" (Slamdance)

John Krasinski » "The Office," "Leatherheads" » "Brief Interviews With Hideous Men" (U.S. Dramatic)

Nicholas D. Kristof » New York Times columnist » "Reporter" (U.S. Documentary)

Matthew Lillard » "Scooby Doo," "SLC Punk" » "Spooner" (Slamdance)

Nia Long » "Are We There Yet?," "Big Momma's House" » "Good Hair" (U.S. Documentary)

Jane Lynch » "Role Models," "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" » "Spring Breakdown" (Park City at Midnight)

Michael Madsen » "Reservoir Dogs," "Kill Bill" » "You Might as Well Live" (Slamdance)


David Strathairn and Paul Giamatti star in "Cold Souls," which premieres at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance)
Ewan McGregor » "Star Wars I, II, III," "Trainspotting" » "I Love You Phillip Morris" (Premieres)

Dominic Monaghan » "Lost," "The Lord of the Rings" » "I Sell the Dead" (Slamdance)

Carey Mulligan » "Pride & Prejudice" (Keira Knightley version) » "An Education" (World Cinema Dramatic), "The Greatest" (U.S. Dramatic)

Liam Neeson » "Batman Begins," "Schindler's List" » "Five Minutes of Heaven" (World Cinema Dramatic)

Patton Oswalt » stand-up comic, "Ratatouille" » "Big Fan" (U.S. Dramatic)

Keke Palmer » "Akeelah and the Bee," "True Jackson, VP" » "Shrink" (Premieres)

Amy Poehler » "Saturday Night Live," "Baby Mama" » "Spring Breakdown" (Park City at Midnight)

Parker Posey » "Superman Returns," "Waiting for Guffman" » "Spring Breakdown" (Park City at Midnight)

Samantha Power » Author, foreign-policy adviser to Barack Obama » "Sergio" (U.S. Documentary)

Denise Richards » "The World Is Not Enough," her E! reality show » "Finding Bliss" (Slamdance)

Dallas Roberts » "Joshua," "3:10 to Yuma" » "Shrink" (Premieres)

Chris Rock » stand-up comedy, "Everybody Hates Chris" » "Good Hair" (U.S. Documentary)

Sam Rockwell » "Frost/Nixon," "Choke" » "Moon" (Premieres), "The Winning Season" (Premieres)

Amy Ryan » "Gone Baby Gone," "The Office" » "The Missing Person" (Spectrum)

Daryl Sabara » "Spy Kids," "Keeping Up With the Steins" » "World's Greatest Dad" (Spectrum)

Rodrigo Santoro » "300" "Lost" » "I Love You Phillip Morris" (Premieres)

Michael Shannon » "Revolutionary Road," "World Trade Center" » "The Missing Person" (Spectrum)

Henry Simmons » "NYPD Blue," "Madea's Family Reunion" » "World's Greatest Dad" (Spectrum)

Leelee Sobieski » "Joy Ride," "88 Minutes" » "Finding Bliss" (Slamdance)

Kevin Spacey » "The Usual Suspects," "American Beauty" » "Shrink" (Premieres), "Moon" (Premieres)

Kristen Stewart » "Twilight," "Into the Wild" » "Adventureland" (Premieres)

David Strathairn » "Good Night, and Good Luck," "Sneakers" » "Cold Souls" (U.S. Dramatic)

Mike Tyson » former heavyweight boxer » "Tyson" (Spectrum Documentary Spotlight)

Leslie Uggams » "Roots," lots of Broadway work » "Toe to Toe" (U.S. Dramatic)

Goran Visnjic » "ER," "Elektra" » "Helen" (Spectrum)

Kristen Wiig » "Saturday Night Live," "Knocked Up" » "Adventureland" (Premieres)

Charlyne Yi » "Knocked Up" » "Paper Heart" (U.S. Dramatic)

[AzizalSaqr]

http://www.sltrib.com/entertainment/ci_11399770

Enjoy Sundance at home
Sundance » Internet and television are a great way to take in the festival.
By Vince Horiuchi

The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated: 01/07/2009 05:29:46 PM MST


The roads to Park City may be too icy or the wallet too light for some Utahns to indulge in one of North America's biggest film festivals.

But don't let that stop you from enjoying the Sundance or Slamdance experience. Thanks to the Internet, iTunes and the Sundance Channel, independent-film aficionados can soak up the atmosphere without leaving their living rooms.

Here's a list of how you can enjoy festival offerings through the Internet and on TV.

On the Web » The site at festival.sundance.org features scores of videos from this year's festival. "Storytime" is a series of videos about what's happening at this year's festival. "Snackbox" is a collection of short videos that capture the independent film spirit with profiles and a grab bag of stories. "Archives" looks back mostly at last year's festival. The site also will include slide shows, filmmaker profiles and interviews, and a daily collection of news from the event.

New this year, Sundance will have a presence on the social networking sites Facebook and Twitter. At www.facebook.com/sundance, there will be videos, trailers, interviews and reviews, and event reminders can be connected to users' own Facebook pages. Guest bloggers, filmmakers and festival staff also will be updating Twitter blogs.

Meanwhile, the Slamdance Film Festival, also held in Park City, has its own site at www.slamdance.com that will feature filmmaker profiles and news.

Slamdance's Anarchy Online, featuring competition short films on the site, also will be in full swing. It's free to view the films, and users can vote for their favorites.

On iTunes » Again, the Sundance Film Festival has partnered with Apple to feature some of its short films online for free.

Each day during the festival, Jan. 15-25, a short will premiere on iTunes. Once users download a film, they have 24 hours to see the movie. The title is then replaced by a new short the next day. In all, 10 will be available for download.

Viewers can watch the shorts on their computer and don't need an iPod to see them. You can download iTunes at www.apple.com.

On television » The Sundance Channel is featuring the "31 Days of Sundance" through Jan. 31.

Each night at 8, a different Sundance feature film and short from a past festival will be shown. Titles also will be available through Comcast's Video on Demand service.

"Festival Updates," brief segments of Sundance news, will be shown throughout each day of the festival. There also will be "Spotlight" segments that highlight the behind-the-scenes work at the festival.

"Festival Updates" segments and blogs from the festival also will be featured at the channel's site at www.sundancechannel.com/festival.

[AzizalSaqr]

http://valsyummyblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/sundance-begins-its-10-day-fest.html

Sundance begins its 10 day Fest!

Sundance 2009 may not be as glitzy as years past but the films do not seem to be lacking in any way. Along with many short films & documentaries, many full length feature films will also be making their premieres starting tomorrow, Friday, January 16th across many cinema venues in the Park City area. So whether you happen to be there or just can't wait for these films to get released, we'll go through daily on what ones seem to be promising a theater release outside of Utah.

Tomorrow's Pick is Helen, directed by Sandra Nettlebeck; starring Ashley Judd, Goran Visnjic, Lauren Lee Smith, Alexia Fast, Alberta Watson, and David Hewlett. The film focuses on a woman who has a seemingly perfect life but begins a spiraling battle with Bipolar disorder. When she has to be hospitalized because of the debilitating spin her depressions lead her to, she begins a different journey towards understanding something she cannot control.



http://festival.sundance.org/2009/film_events/films/helen

Director(s):Sandra Nettelbeck
Screenwriter(s):Sandra Nettelbeck
Executive Producers:Kirk Shaw, Jens Meurer, Robbie Little, Simon Fawcett
Producers:Judy Tossell, Christine Haebler
Cinematographer:Michael Bertl
Production Designer:Linda Del Rosario
Costume Designer:Bettina Helmi

Helen

International Narrative Feature Films
Canada/Germany, 2008, 120 mins., color

DESCRIPTION

Featuring a riveting performance by the gifted Ashley Judd and infused with intelligence and detail by Sandra Nettelbeck, a storyteller who clearly knows intimately the parameters of this universe, Helen transcends the usual limitations that besiege portraits of mental illness and depression. In truth, for all that we’ve learned about depression—its causes, its cures, and the breadth of its affliction—the old clichés and stigmas still dominate our tales and popular culture. What Nettelbeck and her colleagues have accomplished is an unapologetically moving examination that offers no simplistic answers and refrains from reductively singular happy endings.Helen focuses on a woman with an apparently perfect life: a successful academic, she seems happily married with a wonderful daughter. But we witness a sudden breakdown and a journey that is enigmatic and heartbreakingly real. When solutions prove elusive and Helen is hospitalized, she forges a relationship with Mathilda, a fellow traveler who both aids and traumatizes her life’s course. When death seems the only answer, and the safe haven of family gives no respite, the pain of bipolarity is exhausting and overwhelming. Told with poignancy and insight—and ultimately concluding with as much courage as inevitable sadness—Helen is the work of artists whose craft and sensibility are special.
CAST
Ashley Judd, Goran Visnjic, Lauren Lee Smith, Alexia Fast, Alberta Watson, David Hewlett

Sandra Nettelbeck - Sandra Nettelbeck was born in 1966 in Hamburg, Germany, and studied film production at San Francisco State University. After leaving the United States, she worked as a television journalist for a couple of years and made her debut directing the feature-length television movie Loose Ends (1995). In 2001 she completed her theatrical feature debut, Mostly Martha, followed by her second feature, Sergeant Pepper, in 2004. Helen is the fifth feature film she has written and directed.
Screenings:

Fri. Jan 16 8:45 p.m. - HELEN16LN Library Center Theatre, Park City
Sat. Jan 17 9:30 p.m. - HELEN17GN Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, SLC
Mon. Jan 19 11:30 p.m. - HELEN19LL Library Center Theatre, Park City
Thu. Jan 22 11:15 a.m. - HELEN22RD Racquet Club, Park City
Sat. Jan 24 6:30 p.m. - HELEN24DE Redstone Cinemas, Kimball Junction

http://festival.sundance.org/2009/

[Scabiosa]

Actor Goran Visnjic attends the screening of 'Helen' held at the Library Center Theatre during the 2009 Sundance Film Festival on January 16, 2009 in Park City, Utah.

[Mrs Eyre]

Great find Scabiosa! He's looking good!

[MarcySue]

Yay! It's been a long time since we've had Sundance pictures. I love them.

[Zone3120]

Thanks Scabiosa! He's dressed more casual than I thought he would be, but he looks sexy in anything (and without anything I guess )

ETA: Another pic here: http://blogs.sltrib.com/sundance/labels/_Helen.html

[AzizalSaqr]

Thanks, Ladies...now that we know for sure he's there it's tme to scour sites...



From: http://img171.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=93996_Lauren_Lee_Smith_Alexia_Fast_Ashley_Judd_and_Goran_Visnjic_-_Premiere_of_8Helen8_CU_ISA_01_122_909lo.jpg

JD

[Zone3120]

Thanks JD!

[AzizalSaqr]

Hmmm...wonder what's for dinner. From:http://blogs.sltrib.com/sundance/2009/01/tyson-comes-for-dinner.html

Tonight at Chefdance (the basement of Harry O's on Main) Gene Kato, chef at Japonaise in Chicago and New York will be serving a three-course meal for the cast and crew of "Helen" which stars Ashely Judd and Goran Visnjic.

More on ChefDance in this video:

[AzizalSaqr]

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_11475788

Sundance: Who needs Hollywood when you've got Saltywood?
Show time » Stars turn out in Park City, but low-key mood suits Salt Lake City premiere-goers just fine
By Roxana Orellana

The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated: 01/17/2009 08:09:20 AM MST


The cast of "Helen" pose for a photo at the film's premiere at the Park City Library. Left to right: Lauren Lee Smith, Alexia Fast, Ashley Judd, director and screenwriter Sandra Nettelbeck, and Goran Visnjic.
(Steve Griffin/The Salt Lake Tribune)

What if they threw a Sundance opening night and no stars showed up?

That was the plot of the low-drama red carpet walk before Friday night's screening of "The September Issue" at Salt Lake City's Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center.

Notably absent was the documentary's iconic subject, longtime Vogue editor Anna Wintour. Also missing? PETA protesters who were rumored to be on hand to denounce the fashion world's use of fur.

Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman welcomed Sundance visitors to Salt Lake City, drawing laughter when he told theater goers he is so uncool he had to be briefed on Wintour by his daughters while on the way to the premiere.

The premiere's low-key atmosphere seemed to suit founder Robert

Sundance: Day 1
Redford's predictions of a leaner, quieter festival, a product of the economic downturn. Before the screening, director R.J. Cutler, dressed in a plain gray crewneck sweater and Sundance-sponsor-issued Timberland boots, admitted spending nine months filming the backpage story leading to the Sept. 2007 issue of Vogue hadn't turned him into a fashionista.

Cutler launched his career by producing 1993's "The War Room," a documentary about another high-pressure world, that of the first Bill Clinton presidential campaign. Both films documented similar large-scale personalities. "Anna is a remarkable woman," Cutler said. "And when I'm looking for a subject to make a film, I look for characters, for people who care tremendously about what they do, and do it under high-stakes circumstances. And Anna fits the bill."

If Salt Lake Sundance ticket holders had to content themselves with not much star-gawking, it was a different story Friday night in Park City theaters. At the Racquet Club, Kyra Sedgwick joined husband Kevin Bacon for the screening of his new feature, "Taking Chance," about an Iraq War veteran who volunteers to escort a young Marine's remains to his family's Wyoming home.

At the Eccles Center,

Don Cheadle and Wesley Snipes turned out to promote "Brooklyn's Finest," while young actor Shannon Kane, who plays a prostitute in the film, earned crowd approval for her glamorous appearance and easy smile.

Other celebrities seen around town included hand-holding newlyweds Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey, Mo'Nique and Robert DeNiro at "Push," and Goran Visnjic and Ashley Judd at the screening of "Helen," their new movie about a successful academic suffering from depression. Judd, who said she read five books to prepare for the role, thought it was appropriate that screenwriter Sandra Nettelbeck's poignant drama premiered at a library.

For all the buzz at celebrity-studded premieres, the Salt Lake City audience didn't appear to mind that Anna Wintour's Sundance arrival had been pushed back a day, and that rumored A-list models didn't show up. Indeed, just about the only star glimpsed in the theater's lobby between screenings was the jazzy voiced singer Norah Jones, who appeared to support her boyfriend, who was associated with the film.

"Who needs Hollywood and Bollywood when you have Saltywood?" Huntsman quipped from the podium, a joke that seemed to suit the mood of the evening.

Reporters Ben Fulton and David Burger also contributed to this story.

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Another pic...

[AzizalSaqr]

A review of "Helen." http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sundance/2009/01/premiere-helen.html

Sundance 2009: Live from Park City

Premiere: 'Helen'



What is it about Ashley Judd and depression? In "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood," Judd played a young mother who emotionally and physically left her children to disappear into a depression. And in "Helen," a two-hour intense exploration of the reality of the illness of depression, she once again pushes away her husband (played by Goran Visnjic) and can't care for her 13-year-old daughter (Alexia Fast).

Though the story line could have easily slipped into Lifetime original movie land, the excellent writing and acting, rounded out by Lauren Lee Smith portraying a tortured soul whose path crosses Helen's, saves it from melodramatic moments.

Director Sandra Nettelbeck ("Mostly Martha") acknowledged in the Q&A that finding financing was difficult for such -- er -- depressing material. ("No [expletive]," said the women sitting around me, who left in the middle of the Q&A after getting a good look at Visnjic.) Nettleback began working on the story after reading Andrew Solomon's "Anatomy of Melancholy." She received a grant to make the film.

Ashley Judd was candid about her research and experience for the role. "I have had experience with depression," she said, looking directly at the audience member who raised the first question. She acknowledged that the first major depression that she can remember was around the age of 8. To prepare further for Helen's experience, she did a lot of non-dominant-hand writing, to get out of the way, and found the heart and emotion through breath work.

Judd views the art of acting, especially in this role, as spiritual, the process an act of worship. "It has to do with humanity, opening myself up to that," she said, "being in that moment."

When Goran Visnjic was asked about his experience with depression, he half-joked, "Just being with the girls on the set ... being in scenes with Ashley was extremely disturbing."

"Thank you!" Judd chimed in.

Alexia Fast, who I'm stating here is one to watch, exudes a confidence onstage that is balanced with her performance as a younger girl, and a few tears as she chokes up talking about the film.

Apart from the women surrounding me who were starting to rock back and forth in their seats, muttering "depressing," the audience was moved and impressed by the film.

I stopped three men from Brigham Young University -- Derek, Geoffrey and Andrew -- to find out the male perspective on a film filled with female friendship, illness and the challenges of keeping the "for worse" part of the marriage vows. Derek thought it was "excellent, a portrayal of personal experience and very informational." Geoffrey was impressed by how unpredictable the film was.

Rachel Yoder, a volunteer with the festival, thought it was very moving -- the pace slow but intentional, to create the tone, deliberate. And Rebecca Brown gave it a rave review, saying it was an excellent portrayal of depression. It reminds you to hold out hope, she said, and she hopes that more people will see such a realistic portrayal, to help them understand and empathize.

-- Rebecca Snavely

Photo: Lauren Lee Smith, Alexia Fast, Ashley Judd, Sandra Nettelbeck and Goran Visnjic. Credit: WireImage