Directed by Damian Harris, GARDENS OF THE NIGHT follows the story of the abduction of an 8 year old child from her family, the only friend she can trust, and the hellish journey they go through in the hands of pimps and pedophiles. It sounds a lot like the NICKEL CHILDREN, but the director and cast are different.
GARDENS has made its world premiere at the 2008 Berlinale Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, and has already received strong emotional responses and rave reviews.
The cast includes Ryan Simpkins, Jermaine Scooter Smith, Gillian Jacobs, Evan Ross, Tom Arnold, John Malkovich, Kevin Zegers, Peta Wilson, Jeremy Sisto, Evan Peters, Harold Perrineau, Reedy Gibbs, and Kyle Gallner.
UPDATES
08/19/09: We regret that this news escaped us till the last minute, but GARDENS has screened at the Segundo Festival Internacional de Cine en Derechos Humanos aka the 2nd International Human Rights Film Festival in Mexico City, Mexico. The fest began Aug. 14 and concludes tomorrow.
07/30/09: Here's a nice review from TheCelebrityCafe.com Thanks to Bonny for the link!
06/04/09: GARDENS is making its TV premiere tonight on Showtime!!! Thanks to mvauction for this update!
04/06/09: Another good review from Matchcuts/Wordpress.com!
04/05/09: Here's an intriguing new review from TheWestGeorgian/Grant Wallace
UPDATE 04/03/09: GARDENS is nominated for a Prism Award for Best Feature regarding Mental Health Issues. The Prism Awards Ceremony will take place in Beverly Hills, CA, on April 23, 2009!
UPDATE 03/24/09: GARDENS OF THE NIGHT is nominated for the awards for Best Director and Best Cinematographer at the 2009 Milano International Film Festival, Milano, Italy! The festival will play from May 11 to May 19, 2009!
UPDATE 03/06/09: Here's a nice new mini-review of the film from Home Media Magazine. Thanks to Patsy for finding this!
UPDATE 02/21/09: According to the GARDENS official Facebook, the film won 2 jury prizes at the Festival International du Film d'Amour de Mons; it won
a Jury Prize ( Le Coup de Coeur du Jury Prix)
and The Women's Jury Award( Le Prix CineFemme)!!!
The following info was also found at the Facebook for the film: There will be a special screening in Decatur, in the Atlanta, GA area, at the Agnes Scott College on Sunday, March 22, 2009 at 2 pm. Director Damian Harris will be in attendance.
UPDATE 02/11/09: (Revised from earlier update) According to the film's official facebook, GARDENS OF THE NIGHT will be shown at the 25th Festival International du Film d'Amour de Mons, on February 15, 2009 at 6:30 PM and on Feb. 17, 2009 at 8:30 PM, in Mons, Belgium!
UPDATE 01/31/09: Just an update on the DVD release in Canada: VVS Films now has a page for the film, and will be releasing the DVD on March 24, 2009.
UPDATE 12/04/08: From MovieWeb.com, here is a wonderful, brand new 8 minute behind-the-scenes look at the cast & crew of GARDENS OF THE NIGHT! Thank you to Patsy for the link!
UPDATE 11/30/08: If you are in the Los Angeles area, there will be a special screening, followed by a Q&A with director Damian Harris, at the USC School of Cinematic Arts on December 2, 2008 at 7 PM! For info, click the link! Thanks to Patsy!
Also, Staten Island Live has a very nice review!
UPDATE 11/19/08: Amazon.com has a preorder page and a USA DVD release date of March 24, 2009! Thanks to Kimmie for the info!
UPDATE 11/17/08: Here are a few good reviews, from HDFest/Gerald's Reviews, PopEntertainment.com, FilmJournal.com, AltWeeklies.com, and Backstage.com
UPDATE 11/14/08: Here are 2 more cool audio interviews, one with actors Gillian Jacobs and Evan Ross and the second, with actor Tom Arnold, from Hosokinema.com. Thanks to Bonny for the info!
UPDATE 11/11/08: 2 great new reviews, from Box Office Magazine, and FilmMaker Magazine. Thank you to Laura for finding these!
UPDATE 11/08/08: Here is a very interesting review from Rex Reed/The Observer
And Patsy found a pretty nice/decent review from The NY Times
UPDATE 11/06/08: ComingSoon.net has a nice new interview with director Damian Harris about the film!
UPDATE 10/18/08: GARDENS OF THE NIGHT has a facebook page, along with a new theatrical trailer, photos, festival updates, and info!
Also, there is a new WordPress blog for the film!
ComingSoon.net has a very intense new clip of the film!
GARDENS has won an audience award at the Hors-Ecran Festival!
UPDATE 10/15/08: Yet another wonderful and unique review from the Raindance Festival, from CultureWars.org. Thank you to Laura for the link!
UPDATE 10/14/08: Another great review from Eye For Film!
UPDATE 10/12/08: Thank you to Larry from the imdb for this! Monsters & Critics has a wonderful new review for the film!
UPDATE 10/09/08: Mari found this on the imdb today! GARDENS OF THE NIGHT will be shown at the Festival Hors-�cran in Lyon, France on October 11, 2008!
UPDATE 10/01/08: According to its official site, GARDENS will be showing in West Hollywood, CA beginning December 5, 2008.
UPDATE 09/30/08: City Lights Media says that the film will open in NYC November 7, 2008! Thanks to Bonny for the update!
UPDATE 09/19/08: The OFFICIAL SITE is back up and running, with a photo gallery and info. Also, City Lights Media is saying that GARDENS will be in theatres in the USA in November. Thanks to Laura for the update!
And also, GARDENS will be screening at the 16th Raindance Film Festival in the UK, October 2 and 3, 2008!!!
UPDATE 09/15/08: Thanks to VBFHENRM for this update!! GARDENS OF THE NIGHT has won the International Critics Award at the 2008 Deauville American Film Festival in France!
UPDATE 09/09/08: Here is a good video of scenes from the film, from the Berlinale Festival earlier this year, from the French site Arte.TV.
UPDATE 08/03/08: Here is a nice telephone interview with director Damian Harris, from 3cr.org/855 AM in Melbourne, describing the long hard process of getting the film made. Scroll down to about the middle of the page and click on "Jump Cut"!!!
UPDATE 07/25/08: The 2008 Deauville International Film Festival, which begins September 5, 2008, will have GARDENS in competition. For info, go to ScreenDaily.com and the 34th Deauville Film Festival site. Thank you to Ingo for the info!
UPDATE 07/20/08: More festival news!!! GARDENS OF THE NIGHT will be at the 2008 Melbourne International Film Festival in Australia!!! The festival runs from July 25 to Aug. 10, 2008. Click on the link for screening dates, times and ticket info!!!
Also, here is a video we had never seen before, of the premiere of GARDENS at the Berlinale Festival last February!!! From TheInside.com
UPDATE 07/13/08: GARDENS will be in competition screening at the 29th Durban International Film Festival in South Africa, which runs from July 23 to August 3, 2008! Among the many awards it is running for is the Amnesty International Human Rights Award. Go to the festival site for ticket and other info.
UPDATE 05/21/08: The first news I've heard since the Berlinale Festival! GARDENS has been picked up for USA/Canada distribution through City Lights Pictures. For more, go to Variety.com!
And an article from Yahoo! Finance says the film will be in theatres this fall!!!
And here's still another good article stating that the new distribution deal was announced at the Festival de Cannes, which is going on right now, in France, from Cinematical.com.
And a nice article about City Lights decision to distribute the film, from EarthTimes.org
UPDATE 02/14/08: Here is a beautiful review, not one of those impersonal "professional" reviews, but my favorite kind, a review by someone obviously very affected by this film. BEWARE, there are HUGE spoilers in this one! Ain't It Cool News
UPDATE 02/12/08: A wonderful review from The Hollywood Reporter!!!
And here's a nice article about Ryan Simpkins' role in the film from Yahoo! Canada
UPDATE 02/11/08: Another generous review from Screen Daily
UPDATE 02/10/08: Variety has the film's very first review! I'd say this one is pretty generous.
UPDATE 02/08/08: Here is the screening schedule for GARDENS at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival
UPDATE 12/10/07: Thanks to Larry411 from the imdb for this festival update!! GARDENS will be competing for the Golden Bear Award at the 2008 Berlinale Film Festival in Berlin!!
UPDATE 10/10/07: Any of you who could not access the official site a few mos. ago should try again now!!! I am now using MS Explorer, and the site looks GREAT!!! And they have added some beautiful piano music to it!!!
UPDATE 07/05/07: The official site is up and running! According to a person from a Kevin Zegers site, there is information, a pic gallery and more, and looks great, but I myself have been unable to get anything to come up, so I am not sure which software upgrade is required.
I'm back, about 10 mins. after I posted the above. The person from the KZ site suggested Mozilla Firefox Browser, and I got to see the site. It is AWESOME! The trailer is the only item not up quite yet, but reading the synopsis, it sounds like this film has truly been a labor of love for the director, writer, cast and crew.
UPDATE 06/23/07: I actually found this on the 17th but apparently forgot to put the link with the info: Here is a small but informative article about Jeremy's latest film roles, including a plot description of GARDENS.
UPDATE 06/19/07: The myspace page for GARDENS OF THE NIGHT has a great new video of the making of the film, featuring comments from the cast!
UPDATE 04/16/07: It looks like the Official Film Site is now up. Not a lot on it yet, but it's a good start
LINKS
Children Of The Night Organization that rescues teenagers from prostitution
In The Gardens Of The Night at myspace
Cinematical.com A small synopsis of the new film
Coming Soon.net
CinemaBlend.com
Back to GARDENS OF THE NIGHT
Midi: "The Garden"
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