The Major Events - 2001

Cannes did the Can-Can This Year
• May 9 - 20 (France)

This Riviera Fest is without a doubt the festival the most ladden with prestige, budgets, premieres, tuxedo entrances, hot parties, cell phones and schmoozing, and films...that will turn up on the festival circuit all the rest of the year or in theatres if they were lucky enough to have gotten snapped up. The Moulin Rouge by Baz Lurhmann was Opening Film - and in competition for a change, further rendered spectacular by the studio set brought in by Fox from Hollywood as a party setting. Liv Ullmann replaced Jodie Foster (who declined in order to shoot a film) as Jury President, and then Jodie showed up for the Closing Ceremony as a presenter. A first this year was the outdoor screening, which revealed to the public the new directors' cut version of Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola, the festival's special guest. The festival ended on an upbeat note for Italian cinema: The Son's Room by Nanni Moretti won the Palme d'Or.

Academy Awards - Oscars
• March 25 (Los Angeles)

Perhaps the true test of one's star power is not winning an Oscar, but rather being invited to present the trophy. The list of celebrities that handed over the Oscars at the 73rd Annual Academy Awards read like the current roster of A-List Talent, while the show was hosted by Steve Martin. Longtime favorites such as Anthony Hopkins (7th time) and Nicolas Cage (6th time) returned to the Shrine Auditorium, joining the year's hottest new stars like Kate Hudson and Julia Stiles making their first appearances behind the teleprompter. Interesting to note that a record 46 countries submitted films for the Foreign Language category (picked up by Crouching Tiger) and director Steven Soderbergh was only the second director (Francis Coppola was the first) to have two films nominated for Best Picture simultaneously. The Academy went with the traditional choice and picked Gladiator for Best Picture.

Berlinale 2001 Got Intimate
• February 9 - 18 (Germany)

On the festival circuit since 1951, Berlin is known for bucking the trends and setting its own. Unlike most European festivals, which bemoan le Blockbuster (Cannes comes to mind), Berlin embraces Hollywood but maintains an international esprit. Its top honor, the Golden Bear, went to Intimacy by Patrice Chereau, while the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize went to Beijing Bicycle by Wang Xiaoshuai and the Jury Prize to Italian for Beginners by Lone Scherfig . During the two weeks of the festival, Potsdamer Platz transforms itself into a hotbed of cinema activity. The festival features a competition section and several sidebars, including The Forum, The Panorama, Retrospectives, Kinderfilmfest (a children's film festival), and a New German Films section.

Rotterdam Bestows VPRO Tiger Awards
• Jan 24 - Feb 4 (Netherlands)

While Hollywood heads to Sundance, many indie film lovers and professionals head to the Netherlands -- more specifically, Rotterdam -- for the international film festival, considered one of the best launching pads for undiscovered talent. Over 300,000 visitors make their way to 18 venues presenting a programme consisting of over 300 feature films, shorts, videos, CD ROM's, expositions, theatre and other performances and festive dance parties. The winning films of the 30th International Film Festival were announced February 4. The VPRO Tiger Award Competition for first or second features went to Bad Company by Furumaya Tomoyuki of Japan (also won the FIPRESCI prize), In Den Tag Hinein (The Days Between) by Maria Speth of Germany, and 25 Watts by Juan Pablo Rebella & Pablo Stoll of Uruguay.

Hedwig and The Believer lead Sundance Awards
• January 18 - 28 (Park City)

Sundance may lack the sunshine and glitter of its European counterparts like Cannes and Venice, but it compensates with innovation and energy. What other festival could convince film buffs and Hollywood executives to bundle in the snow awaiting the screening of an indie film by an unknown director? Or claim to have launched the phenomena known as Blair Witch? Founded by Robert Redford and begun as a celebration of indie filmmaking, the festival is now a must-stop-trek on the American festival circuit and considered the most prestigious competition in North America.
Henry Bean's The Believer, the dramatic tale of a religious boy-turned-Nazi skinhead won the Grand Jury Prize, while Zhang Yimou's festival hit The Road Home won the World Cinema audience award, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch won the Audience Award.