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1 Aug 27 2008 12:00AM English News People The award, which was inspired by Italian cinema traditional sensitivity towards social and political issues and by the serious involvement of artists all over the world, aspires to provide concrete support to their engagement in promoting human rights, peace and protect the environment, as well as for showing their compassion towards the plight of millions of children raised in poverty as well as the growing poverty in Third World countries, for speaking out about all those global plagues which cry for a decisive voluntary effort. From the agreement of S. Pellegrino and the 65. Venice Film Festival, the project of the first ever award dedicated to social commitment has been established. It is a sort of "Nobel Prize" assigned to movie artists who devote themselves to humanitarian causes. The first edition of "Movie For Humanity Award" will be assigned to Natalie Portman, Sunday, August 31st during Kinéo Italian Movie Award (the yearly Audience Award) Night at the Hotel Des Bains, Visconti Hall.
Natalie will receive a beautiful trophy and a Check of §50.000,00. She will be devolving the donation to TACARE Girls' Scholarship Program.

The award, which was inspired by Italian cinema traditional sensitivity towards social and political issues and by the serious involvement of artists all over the world, aspires to provide concrete support to their engagement in promoting human rights, peace and protect the environment, as well as for showing their compassion towards the plight of millions of children raised in poverty as well as the growing poverty in Third World countries, for speaking out about all those global plagues which cry for a decisive voluntary effort.

NATALIE PORTMAN and THE JANE GOODALL INSTITUTE'S TACARE Girls' Scholarship Program

Raised to the role of international star thanks to her interpretation in the "Star Wars' Trilogy", Natalie is seriously involved in important social and environmental programs. Among them, the TACARE Girls' Scholarship Program of The Jane Goodall Institute, a non-profit organization committed to wildlife research, education and conservation in Tanzania. The program was established to address the problem of severely limited educational opportunities for women in Kigoma district. Traditionally, girls throughout much of Sub-Saharan Africa, leave their parents' home when they are married and become part of their husband's family. Consequently the investment in a daughter's education is too often seen as a waste of scarce resources. The Girls' Scholarship Program provides access to secondary and higher education and consequentely job opportunities in a variety of fields
Natalie Portman has also been appointed Ambassador of Hope for FINCA, an organization operating to assure people microloans to start their activities.

Kinéo Italian Movie Award and S. Pellegrino will assign also the Hall of Fame Award to Dante Ferretti. With two Academy Awards (The Aviator and Sweemey Todd) and eight further nominations, he is the most popular production designer in Hollywood. For his latest job he designed the set of Shutter Island (temporary title) directed by with Martin Scorsese, with Leonardo Di Caprio, Ben Kinglsey, Max Von Sydow. He is also the creator of the set design of the Venice Film Festival.

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2 Aug 13 2008 12:00AM English News People Jonathan Demme, winner of an Oscar for best director for The Silence of the Lambs (1991), and director of films including Something Wild (1986), Philadelphia (1993), The Manchurian Candidate (2004) and Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006) will chair the Official Jury at the coming edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival.
Jonathan Demme is one of the leading talents in North American filmmaking in the past thirty years. Jonathan Demme to chair the Official Jury at this year's edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival

Academy Award-winning director, Jonathan Demme will present his new feature film, Rachel Getting Married, and a "work in progress" version of his latest Neil Young concert film, Neil Young Trunk Show: Scenes from a Concert.

Jonathan Demme, winner of an Oscar for best director for The Silence of the Lambs (1991), and director of films including Something Wild (1986), Philadelphia (1993), The Manchurian Candidate (2004) and Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006) will chair the Official Jury at the coming edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival.
Jonathan Demme is one of the leading talents in North American filmmaking in the past thirty years. The New York director, producer and screenwriter has aptly combined major international box-office hits with independent projects focusing on some of his many concerns. The Silence of the Lambs was a landmark of the modern thriller, rendering Hannibal Lecter one of the most renowned characters in contemporary cinema. Philadelphia stirred the world with the subject of Aids at a time when the disease was a highly touchy issue. He also shot new blood into the intelligent comedy with Something Wild and Married to the Mob (1988) and imbued the idea of remake with a sense of ‘auteurship' in The Truth About Charlie (2002), based on Stanley Donen's1963 film, Charade, and The Manchurian Candidate< /em> based on the John Frankenheimer classic.

Demme also revolutionized the relationship between rock and image. With his staging of the Talking Heads in Stop Making Sense (1984), he reinvented the idea of the rock concert movie, and in Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006) he so elegantly reflected the Canadian musician's emotions. Demme also made some of the most important music videos in the history of the genre, including The Perfect Kiss for New Order, and Streets of Philadelphia, Murder Incorporated and If I Should Fall Behind for Bruce Springsteen.
The documentary is another of the facets in which Jonathan Demme has left an important mark, with titles such as The Agronomist (2003), a portrait of journalist and human rights activist Jean Dominique, and Jimmy Carter Man From Plains (2007), which follows the former US president's book on Palestine tour, and which won three awards at the Venice Festival in 2007.
Right to Return: New Home Movies from the Lower Ninth Ward is Demme's ongoing documentary project. He felt driven to see and document the recovery effort (or lack of one) in New Orleans. His first visit was in the fall of 2005, and Demme has been returning to track the journey of the community and individuals in the Lower Ninth Ward on seasonal visits ever since. PBS' "The Tavis Smiley Show" dedicated a week of programming to excerpts of Right to Return. Later, a compilation of material became the feature length documentary, Right to Return: New Home Movies from the Lower Ninth Ward, which premiered at the Silverdocs Festival in June 2007.
Demme's ongoing trips to document the constantly unfolding stories of people within the community have inspired four additional biopics which are in various stages of development: The Harrisons of New Orleans, The Carolyn Parker Story, Pastor Mel, and The Blue House, which documents the heroic efforts of the Common Ground organization's work in the community.
Demme is currently in pre-production on a Bob Marley documentary scheduled for release in February 2010, the 65th Anniversary of Marley's birth.
Jonathan Demme has worked on two films in 2008. Rachel Getting Married is a "drama with an aggressive sense of humor" about a young woman in and out of rehab for ten years who returns to the family home for her sister's wedding. The film, starring Anne Hathaway, Debra Winger and Rosemarie DeWitt, has entered in competition at the Venice Festival and will be featured in a special presentation at San Sebastian.
San Sebastian will also feature the world debut the work-in-progress version of Jonathan Demme's new Neil Young documentary, Neil Young Trunk Show, a high energy performance film combining acoustic and electric.
Jonathan Demme was born in Baldwin, New York, in 1944. He began his filmmaking career under Roger Corman, directing his first three feature films, Caged Heat (1974), Crazy Mama (1975) and Fighting Mad (1976) for Corman's studio New World Pictures. He then went on to work at the major Hollywood studios directing films such as Handle with Care (1977), Last Embrace (1979) and Melvin and Howard (1980). Something Wild (1984), one of the best comedies of the 1980s, brought him international acclaim.
Demme has taken part in the San Sebastian Film Festival on three occasions -Stop Making Sense out of competition as part of the 1984 New Directors section; Married to the Mob as part of the 1988 Official Selection; and in 2006 with Neil Young: Heart of Gold in Zabaltegi-Perlas.
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3 Aug 3 2008 12:00AM English News People Locarno Film Festival , Fest21.com, CFC Media Lab and Telefilm Canada are proud to premiere the Future of Cinema Salon Series at the Locarno Film Festival.
The Panel on Digital Distribution will bring together international voices around the table including: Elisabetta Brunella (Mediasalles Secretary General), Amos Gitai (director, Locarno Lepoard of Honour 2008), Brian Jones (Managing Director Pathé Switzerland), Bruno Chatelin (filmfestivals.com & fest21.com co-founder; former distributor UGC-Fox, Sony), Fabrice Testa (XDC International VP) and Jean Labadie (Founder Le Pacte, distributor).
More on future of cinema Blog Locarno Film Festival, Fest21.com, CFC Media Lab and Telefilm Canada are proud to premiere the Future of Cinema Salon Series at the Locarno Film Festival.
The Panel on Digital Distribution will bring together international voices around the table including: Elisabetta Brunella (Mediasalles Secretary General), Amos Gitai (director, Locarno Lepoard of Honour 2008), Brian Jones (Managing Director Pathé Switzerland), Bruno Chatelin (filmfestivals.com & fest21.com co-founder; former distributor UGC-Fox, Sony), Fabrice Testa (XDC International VP) and Jean Labadie (Founder Le Pacte, distributor)
Future of cinema, few know, few share, we dare do both!

Let us embark for a trip a few decades ahead of us.
Our first stop this year was Cannes where the series has been held for the past 3 years.
The next stop on the festival circuit is Locarno with a panel held in partnership with the Festival, next stops will be Rome, Stockholm and many more
Check out the video of Cannes events

The following issues will be debated by the esteemed panelist speakers at the Forum, Locarno August 9 at 11.00
What is the current International panorama of D Cinema, how many screens?
State of the art technology?
Digital post production issues (master for theatre, DVD, TV…)
Will technology change sub title print offers in the market?
Which business models prevail in Europe (Digital Screen Network, state/capital funds, VPF…)?
What is the status in Switzerland?
Which content from film to opera and sports in the theatres?
Which new consumers' habits?
Will D cinema really help indie filmmakers reach a theatrical audience?
What has 3D brought to the industry?
Which impact for length of theatrical first-run, number of screens and span of media windows?
New opportunities (through joined-up campaigns for theatrical and DVD releases) for DVD and VOD markets?
Which Impact for the business of film rights and sales?
Any impact on re releases, back catalog, series, festivals?
Who are the new players to watch?
Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) has played a decisive role in setting up standards, what is the role for the coming years?
Will digital advertising be a next bonanza for theatres?
New challenges for marketers?
More on future of cinema Blog

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4 Jul 30 2008 12:00AM English News People The Locarno Film Festival will pay tribute to Youssef Chahine, the revered Egyptian auteur who passed away this weekend, with a special Piazza Grande screening of "Al Massir" (Destiny), which screened at the Swiss fest in 1997. A special screening of Al Massir (Destiny) will take place on Thursday August 7 as the second screening on the Piazza Grande - a film that was programmed at the Festival eleven years ago, at the time of its release.

«We were greatly saddened at the passing away of Locarno's dear friend, Youssef Chahine, commented Frédéric Maire, the Festival's Artistic Director. This extraordinary storyteller, who ranged across film genres so brilliantly, commanded admiration also for the courage of the positions he took, insisting on the importance of tolerance. Throughout the length of his career, and his rich œuvre, Chahine displayed a unique combination of political outrage and pleasure in narrative. He was a great auteur and a formidable provocateur.»

In 1996, the Locarno Festival devoted a complete retrospective to the filmmaker, in his presence.
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