Michael Shannon to introduce new film Complete Unknown

American actor Michael Shannon, who has been nominated for an Oscar, Golden Globe and Tony awards, will join director Joshua Marston and producer Jay Van Hoy to present the drama Complete Unknown (2016) at the 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Michael Shannon made his cinematic debut comedy Groundhog Day, and has since appeared in both blockbusters and independent productions. His credits include Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor (2001) and Bad Boys II (2003), Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center (2006), and Sidney Lumet’s Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007). He also worked with Werner Herzog on films The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans (2009), My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done (2009) and the upcoming Salt and Fire (2016). Shannon received an Oscar nomination for his performance in Sam Mendes’s film adaptation of the Richard Yates novel Revolutionary Road (2008). Other award-winning performances include Jeff Nichols’s psycho-thriller Take Shelter (2001) and Ramin Bahrani’s drama 99 Homes (2014). With Nichols, Shannon teams has teamed regularly since his debut in Shotgun Stories (2007) and has has gone on to collaborate with him on Mud (2012), Midnight Special (2016) and  Loving (2016).

Joshua Marston  studied social sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. He then left for France and worked for Life magazine and ABC News in Paris. He taught English in Prague for one year. After his return to the USA he continued studying political sciences in Chicago and took a course in film at New York University. He shot several shorts and his debut Maria Full of Grace (2003) was shown to accolades at Sundance and Berlin, and subsequently at Karlovy Vary (Horizons). His next picture, set in Albania and entitled The Forgiveness of Blood (2011), also competed at the Berlinale, where it picked up a Silver Bear for Best Screenplay. Complete Unknown, the Los Angeles native’s first English language film, premiered this year at the Sundance fest.

Jay Van Hoy, an American producer who graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. He has been a longtime advisor at the Sundance Institute Creative Producing Lab, a participant in the creation of the Catalyst program at Sundance, and a mentor for the Cinetrust mentorship program at Cinereach. In 2004 he and Lars Knudsen founded Parts & Labor, a production company dedicated to director-driven pictures. He was instrumental in bringing out Mike Mills’ Oscar winning Beginners (2010), Julia Loktev’s The Loneliest Planet (2011), David Lowery’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (2013), Kelly Reichardt’s Old Joy (2006) and Ira Sachs’ Keep the Lights On (2012) and Love Is Strange (2014). He produced The Witch by Robert Eggers (2015), Complete Unknown by Joshua Marston (2016), and participated in the creation of this year’s Cannes favorite American Honey from Andrea Arnold. He is a member of the Grand Jury 51st KVIFF.