My fifth and last day at the cinematic wonderland that is DIFF consisted of three documentaries. The films are very diverse - two were made by Western filmmakers and the third one is by an Iranian who was stopped from filming his latest film and this doccie was smuggled out of Iran on a flash drive hidden in a cake! I kicked off my day with Semisweet: Life in chocolate that focuses on 4 different stories about chocolate - the top chocolatier in France, a spiritual couple's chocolates fro...

The Festival del film Locarno's Carte Blanche offers a showcase for a number of films in post-production, from a different country in Asia, Africa, Latin America or South-East Europe. This year, Carte Blanche is dedicated to Mexico. The initiative is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). Thanks to IMCINE, the Mexican Film Institute, seven films in post-production have been chosen for the sophomore edition...

This video we shot from Michael Moore's press conference in Cannes 2007 has generated other  a 1000 comments, amazing how Michael generates such controversy on each film. We love it, I hope you do too. ...

Besides the customary unveiling of new and upcoming talent from far and wide which is the hallmark of this festival,  Karlovy 2012 provided such an extensive look at film history that these selections alone could have constituted an entire festival on their own.  Among digitally restored new prints of landmark old films were Fellini's "La Strada, 1954, which among other things made burly actor Anthony Quinn into an arthouse icon, and Miloš Forman's "Fireman's Ball" (1967) the...

Film allows you to see the world without leaving your seat. My third day at DIFF took me from Lisbon to a farm in Africa, the Deep South, the Philippines and Paris. Dark clouds rolled into Durban yesterday, but the sun always shines at the movies (thank you A-Ha). My first film was the wonderful black and white Portuguese film, Tabu. The competition film is filled with nostalgia. It is set in modern-day Lisbon and in 1930s colonial Africa. It is a wonderful love story remi...

Day 2 of DIFF was a day of extremes. It was wonderful to see all the film fans studying their guides - some of the guides visibly well-read. I watched three films today and they are very diverse. Chicken with plums (Poulet aux prunes) premiered at Venice. It is a beautiful love story of a musician, played by Mathieu Amalric of The Diving Belle and the butterfly fame, who can't get over the loss of his violin and he decides to rather die. It sounds like a depressing film but it is in...

Sofia's Last Ambulance is on a winning spree! Last night Iliyan Metev's film was awarded with Best Documentary Award for a title over 30 min. long at Karlovy Vary IFF. After receiving Canal 4's special Visionary award from the Critics' Week at Cannes, Sofia's Last Ambulance triumphed in the Documentary Competition at the Czech festival. Iliyan Metev's film is another successful Sofia Meetings' project and is selected next for the Sarajevo IFF. Another film that was presented duri...

  Charlotte Rampling © Courtesy of I, Anna 2012. Photographer Kerry Brown. The Festival del film Locarno will present an Excellence Award Moët & Chandon to the English actress Charlotte Rampling. The award ceremony will take place on the Locarno Festival’s opening night on Wednesday 1 August on the Piazza Grande. The following day the public will have the opportunity to participate in a conversation with Charlotte Rampling. To mark the occasion the Festival del film Locarno will...

KVIFF CAPSULE REVIEWS by Alex Deleon   The competition film “Zabic Bobra" (To Kill a Beaver) by Polish director Jan Jakub Kolski is a grisly psychological drama that tries to show what it is like inside the head of a returning professional soldier who cannot readjust to everyday life. Kolski, 56, has been described as a master of Polish “magical realism” and is certainly one of the few directors of his generation who can be called an auteur. At his press conference Kolski said �...

The Durban International Film Festival returns for its 33rd year to celebrate the magic of cinema in all its beauty and diversity. From the 19th to the 29th July, Durban will be illuminated by the glow of the silver screen, with over 290 screenings in 10 venues across the city. Alongside world-class cinema from across the globe, comprising 80 feature films, 40 documentaries and 45 short films, the festival offers a comprehensive workshop and seminar programme that facilitates the sharing...

    The New York Asian Film Festival (June 29 - July 15) returns !   The opening night film is Pang Ho-cheung’s astonishingly filthy, extremely hilarious VULGARIA, a movie about making movies, shot in just 12 days, all about gangsters named Brother Tyrannosaur, sleazy lawyers, the sex film industry, and men who love donkeys a little too much. The Hollywood Reporter calls it a “...laugh-out-loud, aptly titled comedy.” Pang himself, Hong Kong's hottest young director, will be a gues...

Thai director, screenwriter, producer and videomaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul will be Jury President for the Concorso internazionale (International competition) at the 65th Festival del film Locarno.   © Chaisiri Jiwarangsan Born in 1970, Apichatpong Weerasethakul holds a degree in Architecture from Khon Kaen University and a Master of Fine Arts in filmmaking from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Apichatpong Weerasethakul has come to be recognized as one of the most original v...

French director Leos Carax will receive the Pardo d’onore Swisscom at the forthcoming edition of the Festival del film Locarno.   © Copyright Wild Bunch 2012 To mark the occasion, the filmmaker’s five features – Boy Meets Girl (1984), Bad Blood (Mauvais Sang, 1986), The Lovers on the Bridge (Les Amants du Pont-Neuf, 1991), Pola X (1999) and Holy Motors (2012) ¬¬– will be screened, as well as the portmanteau film Tokyo!, to which he contributed the segment Merde in 2008. On the d...

On the opening day of the The Los Angeles Film Festival, the day was filled with excitement  with fans packing the streets and watching the parade and honoring the Stanley Cup champions. The LA Kings but movie fans were looking forward to Oscar winner Woody Allen appearing and presenting his romantic new film”To Rome with Love”. So love was in the air all over downtown Los Angeles with smiling faces , the red carpet and the film fans and lovers of Hollywood. The LAFF direc...

On the opening day of the The Los Angeles Film Festival  , the day was filled with excitement  with fans packing the streets and watching the parade and honoring the Stanley Cup champions .The LA Kings but movie fans were looking forward to Oscar winner Woody Allen appearing and presenting his romantic new film”To Rome with Love”.So love was in the air all over downtown Los Angeles with smiling faces , the red carpet and the film fans and lovers of Hollywood. The LAFF directors were very s...

On the opening day of the The Los Angeles Film Festival , the day was filled with excitement with fans packing the streets and watching the parade and honoring the Stanley Cup champions .The LA Kings but movie fans were looking forward to Oscar winner Woody Allen appearing and presenting his romantic new film”To Rome with Love”.So love was in the air all over downtown Los Angeles with smiling faces , the red carpet and the film fans and lovers of Hollywood. The LAFF directors were very sma...

Suddenly this summer documentary festivals seem to be mushrooming across England.On the eve of Cannes I attended a crowded croissants and coffees Launch for the Sheffield DocFest, in the smart offices of the The Guardian newspaper in Kings Place, on the fast-developing side of the Kings Cross railway station.It was a very professional presentation by the Festival Board and programmers with many clips of selected entries, and ample footage of previous festivals which seem to have filled t...

Cinema City festival marked the previous day to the last seat filled with screenings, films especially the local cinema! The attention of students and young filmmakers are particularly preoccupied with the two competition selection Up to 10,000 bucks section for low budget films and Educons Hungry Days. Their art and charisma, especially director Dresen left a very positive impression and charmed the audience of the Festival. Beside the film program in recent days visitors enjoye...

Cinema City Festival 2012 gathers some of the most significant European names from the world of film, they are passing on valuable knowledge, experiences to a young Serbian filmmaker, but also to those already considered to be successful professionals. For the first time Serbia hosts board members of the prestigious European Film Academy, the most significant film institution in Europe along with numerous directors and producers. The third day of Cinema City went by very quickly, honorin...