Since 1984 the International Women's Film Festival FEMINALE in Cologne has
presented films made by women and takes place October 2-6, 2002. Following Créteil
Films de Femmes it is the second largest festival of its kind in the world.
A total of 120 short and feature-length films from 24 different countries are
showcased in diverse programs with film premieres within the Horizons-Debut
competition, Panorama, Zoom-In, Queer-Looks, Portrait, Girl's Focus, and Animation
sect...
The No Borders International Co-Production Market, a section of the IFP Market
which began with the Gotham Awards gala last Thursday, is at its midway point.
Once strictly a sidebar to the main IFP Market event, it is now a tightly integrated
section that specifically highlights the work of established film directors
with scripts or works-in-progress for presentation to US and international distributors
and financiers.
Since 1995, No Borders has succeeded in linking experien...
In its 40th edition, the New York Film Festival is honouring its first Indian
actor - Shabana Azmi. From September 28 to October 10, this premiere festival
in the United States will present twelve notable films from Azmi's remarkable
repertoire as a screen actress. From September 25th to 30th, the festival invited
Azmi to be present to meet audiences and interact with them over question and
answer sessions. In addition, Ismail Merchant, whose film "In Custody"
is part of ...
As part of this week's IFP Market, dozens of seminars were organized to feed
information and stimulate discussions for attending film producers and film
professionals. One of the most provocative was a panel entitled Festivals and
Markets: As Important As Ever?, moderated by Anthony Kaufman, contributing editor
to IndieWire and various film publications. The panel, co-presented by Film
Festivals Entertainment Group, was held in a standing-room only conference room
at the ...
On Monday, New York Film Festival Director Richard Pena informed a press conference
that acclaimed Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki, whose latest film The Man
Without A Past is screening this weekend, announced that he was boycotting
the Festival as an act of solidarity for Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami,
who had been denied a visa to visit the United States.
Kaurismaki's statement is presented in its entirety:
"Not with anger (which has never brought anything good) but ...
Created in 1995 to showcase the talents of local and international filmmakers,
the Sacramento Festival of Cinema now marks its seventh year as the community's
premier film arts showcase. This year's Festival is set for October 4th, 5th
and 6th at the historic Crest theater.
Highlights of this year’s program include the exclusive Sacramento premieres
of three films; Gangster NO.1 (starring Malcolm McDowell and Paul Betteny),
Stolen Summer (produced for HBO’s Projec...
The Sitges 2002 - International Film Festival of Catalonia will be opening
its 35th edition running from October 3rd to the 13th with Darkness (Spain,
2002), the latest and long-awaited feature film by Jaume Balagueró (The
Nameless, presented at Sitges’99). The film, shot last year in Barcelona,
boasts an international cast including Anna Paquin, Lena Olin, Giancarlo Giannini,
Stephan Enquist and Spanish actors Fele Martínez and Fermí Reixach.
Da...
On Saturday 7 December, the 2002 European Film Awards will take place in Rome,
brought to the city which to so many represents the capital of cinema as guests
of the Comune di Roma and its Mayor, Walter Veltroni. The annual European Film
Awards, which are supported by the Media Programme of the European Union and
produced under the auspices of the European Film Academy, gathers together the
finest filmmakers, the brightest stars and a host of industry luminaries from
all ...
The Chicago Filmfestival kicks off October 4-18th with an elaborate Festival
bash on Marshall Field’s historic 7th Floor at State Street. Enjoy a lavish
buffet, cocktails and wine, and Opening Night! Up the street ar the spectacular
Chicago Theatre, an onstage tribute awarding a Golden Hugo for Lifetime Achievement
to Pierce Brosnan is to be followed by the opening night feature, Evelyn.
This year's closing night event features the film Frida directed by Julie
Taymor.
...
Abderrahmane Sissako, the African director of the film Waiting For Happiness,
scheduled to screen at the New York Film Festival this weekend, has joined the
growing boycott of the Festival in response to the State Department decision
to deny a visa to Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami.
Sissako joins Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki, who earlier this week announced
his intention not to attend as a show of solidarity for Kiarostami, who was
to be in New York for the screening ...
The 8th edition of Fantastisk Filmfestival ended on Sunday the 29th with an
award ceremony at Kino in Lund. The Silver Méliès for the Best
European fantastic film production was awarded by a jury that consisted of Erik
Hedling (film professor at Lund University), Anna Arnman (Film Scholar at Lund
University), and Orvar Säfström (Film Critic, Malmö) to Doctor
Sleep from UK director Nick Willing. "With narrative elegance, beautiful
cinemato...
The 2002 Woodstock Film Festival ended a five day run Sunday September 22 with
the announcement of WFF award winners. Awards were presented in eight categories,
judged by panels of distinguished filmmakers and industry professionals. The
2002 Honorary Maverick Award was presented to actor/writer/director Tim Robbins
for his social consciousness, intelligence, independence and creativity. The
Best Feature Award was presented to Interview with the Assassin by first-time
wri...
The Independent Film Feature Film Market (IFFM), now in its 24th year as a
major showcase of new works from the American independent film community, introduced
a number of controversial changes this year and is still gauging the response
of the film community it serves.
Presented by the Independent Feature Project (IFP), the IFFM took the controversial
stand of all but eliminating its Narrative Feature section, which in the past
had included as many as 100 films, mainly from...
The Sixth Annual Hollywood Film Festival has unveiled the line-up
for the 2002 Hollywood Discovery Awards competition. The finalists were selected
from over 1,500 film submissions and include features, documentaries, and shorts.
The screenings will take place from October 2 to 6 at Arclight Cinemas (6360
Sunset Blvd.).
The Festival will have its Opening Night Premiere on Wednesday, October 2,
with the World Premiere of Gore Verbinski's The Ring, starring Naomi
Watts, at ...
The Asolo Art Film Festival 2002, taking place from 25 to 29 September at the
Teatro dei Rinnovati, Asolo, brings together the worlds of art, cinema and music.
The Jury of the Asolo ArtFilmFestival awarded the Grand Prize to the German entry
Sainkho by Erica Von Moeller. The jury had the task of examining 63 works,
selected from the over 300 received by the Festival from all over the world,
and choose the most meritorious for each of the five categories in competition
(F...
Acclaimed Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki has announced that he will boycott
the New York Film Festival, where his film The Man Without A Past is
scheduled to screen this weekend. Kaurismaki made his decision after learning
that Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami had been prevented from attending the
festival last week because of US visa problems.
In a published statement, the director announced "that under the circumstances
I, too, am forced to cancel my participation ...
Eric Eason, the writer/director of the feature film Manito, was awarded
the Golden Palm Award as part of the gala Gotham Awards ceremony held in New
York last week.
The Open Palm Award was instituted by the IFP, the national filmmakers organization
behind the Gothams, as the only competitive award, set to honor distinguished
accomplishment of a first-time directing talent.
It is also the only award during an evening of tributes to such established
talents as director Ang ...
It only seems fitting that Spain's biggest international film festival dedicated
to showcasing Latin American works should honor one from the crop making its
world premiere. The 50th Donostia-San Sebastian International Film Festival's
Golden Shell goes to Los lunes al sol (Monday in the Sun) from Spanish
director Fernando León de Aranoa. With the citation "For having
enthralled all of the jury members" Argentine director Carlos Sorin's Historias
Mí...
Director/writer Paul Schrader has some very recognizable credits. He directed
Affliction, American Gigolo, Cat People and wrote the classic Taxi
Driver, Raging Bull and The Last Temptation of Christ. As a young
film critic in L.A. he was fired from the L.A. Free Press for panning Easy
Rider. Almost consistently, Schrader is fascinated with tales of men facing
a moral crisis and the resulting disintegration this often causes. His film
Auto Focus is no exception. T.V. star ...
One of the many innovations introduced at the IFP Market this week is a new
section entitled the IFP Market Rough Cut Showcase, a presentation of nearly
completed narrative features using Microsoft Windows Media 9 Series technology.
In collaboration with Microsoft, the Showcase presented four films shown in
projection digital video format at the Angelika Film Center, the site for all
Market screenings.
The films screened in the Rough Cut Showcase include Taft (Aion Velie), ...
A flurry of distributor pickups marked the opening weekend of the New York
Film Festival, which began with great excitement with the US premiere of the
Jack Nicholson-starrer About Schmidt.
Three high profile films that did not have US distribution have been acquired.
Kino International, a specialty distribution company that had turned Michael
Haneke's controversial The Piano Teacher into a solid success, has picked
up Chihwaseon, the Korean epic film by veteran director Im...
Despite a driving rain and powerful winds gusting from the nearby Hudson River,
spirits were high at the 12th annual Gotham Awards, a star-studded salute to
American Independent Cinema. The event serves as a fundraiser for the Independent
Feature Project, a national organization that helps independent filmmakers.
The atmosphere was that very New York mix of Hollywood glamour and downtown
bohemian chic. Co-hosted by New York actors John Turturro (Barton Fink)
and Rosie P...
As New York braced through its first storm of the fall season, the buzz on
the street was that "Jack is back". The Jack in question is, of course,
Mr. Nicholson, the iconic actor who is in town for the screening of the Cannes
competition entry About Schmidt, which opens the 40th edition of the
New York Film Festival.
Nicholson is receiving critical raves for his subtle performance as a retiree
in search of human values. In an interview in the New York Times, Nicholson
c...
With the San Sebastian Film Festival close to its end, tonight's tribute to
Bob Hoskins wraps up the the three-actor tribute and the last Donastia Prize
Award in recognition of career achievement for this 50th edition. Dennis Hopper
and Jessica Lange were honored with the award earlier in the week.
Jessica Lange
She was King Kong's object of desire, Jack Nicholson's partner in a passionate
scene on a flour-coated kitchen table, the perfect angel of death for Bob Fosse.
Thes...
Abbas Kiarostami, the acclaimed director of Through the Olive Trees,
And Life Goes On..., awarded the Palme d'Or for The Taste of Cherry,
had been invited to introduce his latest film Ten at the forthcoming
New York Film Festival. He had also been invited to give a lecture at Harvard
and Columbus University in Ohio. But he will have to cancel as he has been denied a US entry visa.
Richard Pena, director of the New York film festival, has informed that Abbas
Kiarostami was d...
Chatelin Bruno 
