by Lekha Shankar      With almost every city in India boasting of a film festival today, it’s difficult to know which ones to choose. But two film festivals seems a cut above the rest. The International Film Festival of India (IIFI),  is the oldest and biggest film festival in the country ,which is  held in late-November, in the scenic beach-town of Goa. It  has the glitter, glamour, and high-quality cinema that one associates with a top-range fest...

    Sofia, Bulgaria hosts its 15th International Film Festival this year on the dates 4-13th March 2011. One of the most important film festivals on the festival map, it features not only top international films but Eastern European and Bulgarian national cinema as well. Various industry professionals from the international cinema world will attend to support and/or present their films in competition at the festival.  The SIFF 2011 festival officially opened o...

China, Korea, Turkey, Israel, Australia, Iran and India win awards BANGKOK ~ Tangshan dadizheng (Aftershock), from the People’s Republic of China, has won the Best Feature Film Award at the fourth annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA), announced on Thursday (02 December) evening at a stunning ceremony on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Chinese actor Chen Daoming received the Best Performance by an Actor award for the same film, which is the highest grossing domestic ...

The Opening Gala for the 16th edition of the London Turkish Film Festival took place last night at the Empire Leicester Square, an enviable setting and historical location with strong ties to British cinematical history.  With the red carpet rolled out and crowd congregating with curiosity, everyone waited with anxiety for the arrival of the talent - most notably Sener Sen, soon-to-be winner of the Golden Wings Lifetime Achievement Award, Cagan Irmak, director of the opening film "Sleeping...

At the 8th Summer Berlinale from July 16 to 19, the Open Air Cinema in Friedrichshain is presenting - in collaboration with radioeins - five highlights from the 60th Berlin International Film Festival's programme. These films have yet to be released in German movie theatres.   Besides Bal (Honey), winner of this year's Golden Bear, three audience favourites will be shown from the Panorama, Forum and Perspektive Deutsches Kino sections. Festival Director Dieter Kosslick will open th...

The first seven titles for the Competition of the 60th Berlin International Film Festival have been confirmed. The films selected so far are from Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, France, Germany, India, Iran, Turkey, the UK and the USA.   This first group of films selected for the Competition is characterized by up-and-coming young directors, stars and masters of filmmaking like Martin Scorsese and Roman Polanski.   "The Competition of the 60th anni...

The 60th Berlinale: Films by Martin Scorsese and Roman Polanski to celebrate world premieres in the Competition programmeThe first seven titles for the Competition of the 60th Berlin International Film Festival have been confirmed. The films selected so far are from Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, France, Germany, India, Iran, Turkey, the UK and the USA. This first group of films selected for the Competition is characterized by up-and-coming young directors, stars and masters of filmma...

From 24th September to 3rd October 2009 the 17th Filmfest Hamburg will be presenting film enthusiasts and professionals with young Turkish cinema. The eight author-directors come from different Turkish cities and regions, bringing with them intense and explosive tales of Turkish and Kurdish life. Festival Director Albert Wiederspiel is impressed "by the cinematic poetry of these stories as well as by the filmmakers' courage. The imagery used in all of these films relies on serene tranquillity, m...

In the ninth selection round of the World Cinema Fund (WCF) on October 25, the WCF drew a positive balance for 2008 and proposed three film projects for production funding. The WCF jury – film scholar and curator Viola Shafik (Germany/Egypt), programme coordinator of the Swiss Television Alberto Chollet (Switzerland), director of the script programme of the EON Screenwriters' Workshop Alby James (England), as well as WCF project managers Sonja Heinen and Vincenzo Bugno – chose between 108 pr...

The 3rd International Eurasia Film Festival, curtain-raiser for Turkey's 44th Antalya Film Festival, is all set to open on October 19 and will feature a showcase of much-acclaimed recent films of international origin. Displaying the latest productions and hosting their performers and directors at Antalya, the Eurasia Film Festival covers a line up of highly praised films produced  during the last two years. Awards of US$75,000 and US$25,000 will be granted to the “Best Film” and the ...

October 16, 2005 BANGKOK ~ The 3rd annual World Film Festival got under way in Bangkok today (Saturday 15 Oct) following Friday night’s grand opening at which Roman Polanski was guest of honour for the Asian premiere of his latest film, Oliver Twist. The veteran director, who is no stranger to Thailand and who even speaks a smattering of Thai, introduced the film as his first attempt to produce work that will appeal to children as well as adults. “I have children of my ow...

BANGKOK ~ The 3rd annual World Film Festival got under way in Bangkok today (Saturday 15 Oct) following Friday night’s grand opening at which Roman Polanski was guest of honour for the Asian premiere of his latest film, Oliver Twist.The veteran director, who is no stranger to Thailand and who even speaks a smattering of Thai, introduced the film as his first attempt to produce work that will appeal to children as well as adults.“I have children of my own and I wanted to make something which ...