Saturday, September 6-------The facts and figures of this year's  Toronto International Film Festival go something like this: 312 films from 64 countries, including 249 feature-length films, 76 per cent of which are world, international or North American premieres, and 61 of which are feature directorial debuts. Aside from close to 1500 international members of the press and the film industry, the Festival is also welcoming over 500 international stars and special guests on the red carpet. T...

 Saturday, September 6------Coming off of a shopping spree of acquisitions at the Cannes Film Festival, New York-based specialty distributor IFC Films is screening an unprecedented seven films at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. With most US distributors in retrenchment mode (or some being shuttered completely), IFC's day-and-date release of films in theaters and via Video On Demand has given them the financial clout to fill the need for an expanding pipeline of new product.That...

 EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2008in alphabetical order (please note that articles (a, the/le, la/el, il, etc) are ignored)3 DIAS (Before the Fall), Spaindirected by Francisco Javier Gutierrezwritten by Juan Velarde & F. Javier Gutierrezproduced by Maestranza Films, Green Moon Prod., PentagramaSynopsis: What would you do if the world was going to end in 72 hours? What would your neighbours, your family, the whole world do? The Secretary General of the Council of Nations has announced that a giganti...

The selection list for the European Film Awards 2008 has been announced and includes 44 titles. Once again, with 27 countries represented this year, the selection vividly illustrates the great diversity in European cinema.In the 20 countries with the most EFA members, these members have voted one national film directly into the selection list (marked with a *). To complete the list, a Selection Committee consisting of EFA Board Members and invited experts Gunnar Bergdahl (Sweden), Stefan Kitanov...

The San Francisco Film Society, in association with the French-American Cultural Society, the French Consulate of San Francisco and Unifrance USA, presents French Cinema Now (October 8 - 12, Landmark's Clay Theatre), a five-day festival dedicated to celebrating the best in contemporary French cinema. This new addition to the Film Society's fall programming debuts in style with Arnaud Desplechin in attendance to introduce his latest on October 8, and Laurent Cantet's Cannes Palme d'Or winner clos...

At the time of this press briefing, the major part of our extensive study and program selection for the Viennale 2008has been concluded, and thus we can give you a general overview of the orientation and direction of this year’sfestival.What stands out in the choice of films for the Viennale 2008 is the wide spectrum of the program, covering agreat diversity of cinematography and cinematic countries of origin. As compared to last year, Latin-American cinema,to name but one example, has clearly...

The 27th annual Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) will be held from September 25 to October 10, 2008. VIFF is delighted to be able to bring to Vancouver many of the top prize-winners from the major world film festivals. Acclaimed earlier this year at Cannes were THREE MONKEYS (Turkey), for which Nuri Bilge Ceylan won the Best Director award; IL DIVO, by Paolo Sorrentino, which won a Jury Prize; A CHRISTMAS TALE (France) by Arnaud Desplechin, which won a Special Prize; TULPAN (Russia/K...

Samir Guesmi, director of C'est dimanche ! (It's Sunday!- 30 min) to be presented on Opening Night, Friday 18th - 8:30pm, prior to OSS 117: Le Caire nid d'espions (OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies). He will be available for interviews Thursday July 16th & Friday July 17th. We are proud to announce that French director Samir Guesmi will attend the first weekend of the 7th Sacramento French Film Festival. will attend the Sacramento French Film Festival. In addition to being a film director, Samir Gues...

  Prix du 61ème Festival de Cannes : Catherine Deneuve et Clint EastwoodRemis par le Président du Jury Sean Penn, le Prix du 61ème Festival de Cannes a été attribué à l'actrice française Catherine Deneuve et au cinéaste-comédien américain Clint Eastwood.Durant la Cérémonie de remise de Prix, Catherine Deneuve a déclaré : "Merci beaucoup au Jury. Je suis très touchée, très émue. Je voudrais remercier Arnaud Desplechin grâce à qui je suis ici ce soir. Je voudrais aussi r...

 Friday, May 23------The whooshing sound that you hear is the rapid departure of film professionals leaving in droves as the Cannes Film Festival enters its final weekend. In fact, professionals have been leaving en masse since Wednesday, with film sales offices at the Marche du Film and the local hotels virtual ghost towns. The American distribution contingent, which were on the Croisette in great numbers, have left Cannes without many major acquisitions. The tepid Cannes market continued what...

The first screening of Arnaud Desplechin's "Un Conte de Noel", which is entered in the Festival's competition, took place this morning at 8:30 for the press. The 2 hour and 30 minute film featured 9 actors and explored the relationship between family, illness, and medicine. As they exited, members of the press appeared fatigued and nonplussed. One journalist went as far to say it was unbelievable that he went into the movie at 8:30, and when he came out it wa...

« It’s an odd place where to show films which are not sure of a theatre release to people who are not sure to go and see them, but the oddest of this thing, with Cannes, is the result of all this effervescence: to give the desire to see films, the desire to make films, the desire to love film. »Gilles Jacob« Cannes is the cinema: glamour and rigour, silly and serious, sexual and cerebral, excessive and refined, art and business, the ridiculous and the sublime. An elitism so discriminatory, ...

Pascale Ferran has been chosen by the Festival de Cannes, which runs from May 16th to 27th, to chair the jury of the official selection Un Certain Regard.Pascale Ferran was first selected at the 1990 festival for her short film le Baiser. She returned in 1992 as a scriptwriter for La Sentinelle by Arnaud Desplechin presented in competition.© Renaud Monfourny In 1994, she won the Caméra d'Or Prize for her first feature film Petits Arrangements avec les morts. L'Age des possibles was rel...

THE 36th annual International Film Festival of India (IFFI) got of to a colourful start this afternoon (Thursday 24 November 2005) with a huge carnival that included a seemingly endless parade of floats, cultural pageantry and other festivities. The parade was the prelude to the inaugural film ‘Olga’, a Brazilian film directed by Jaime Monjardim, which chronicles the true story of the German revolutionary Olga Benario Prestes. Olga is one of some 200 films from India and abroa...

The 36th annual International Film Festival of India (IFFI) – 2005 got of to a colourful start this afternoon (Thursday 24 November) with a huge carnival that included a seemingly endless parade of floats, cultural pageantry and other festivities.The parade was the prelude to the inaugural film ‘Olga’, a Brazilian film directed by Jaime Monjardim, which chronicles the true story of the German revolutionary Olga Benario Prestes. Olga is one of some 200 films from India and abroad that will ...

The 36th annual International Film Festival of India (IFFI) – 2005 got of to a colourful start this afternoon (Thursday 24 November) with a huge carnival that included a seemingly endless parade of floats, cultural pageantry and other festivities.The parade was the prelude to the inaugural film ‘Olga’, a Brazilian film directed by Jaime Monjardim, which chronicles the true story of the German revolutionary Olga Benario Prestes. Olga is one of some 200 films from India and abroad that will ...

The Regal Entertainment Group7th Annual Sarasota Film FestivalJanuary 28 – February 6, 2005It’s time to leave the daily hum-drum of life and enter the world of flickering lights, fantasy dreams, tall tales, romance, reel life, fabulous parties, rock ‘n roll, educational journeys and so much more as the 7th Annual SARASOTA FILM FESTIVAL gets underway. The 10-day event will take place in the Gulf Coast resort city of Sarasota, Florida January 28 thru February 6, 2005. The Regal Entertainme...

JAOUI OPENS NEW YORK FILM FESTIVALThe 42nd edition of the New York Film Festival opened this past weekend, with one of its most diverse and anticipated slates in recent years. Featuring an exciting mix of the new works of acknowledged film masters and fresh discoveries, the Festival, presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, is generally acknowledged as the crown jewel of film events in a city that boasts more than 25 film festivals during the year. “It is the gold standard as far as Ne...

ROIS ET REINE (Kings & Queen)(France) 150 minutes Venice 61, In CompetitionA film by ARNAUD DESPLECHIN(IN THE COMPANY OF MEN, ESTHER KAHN, COMMENT JE ME SUIS DISPUTE.)starring Mathieu Amalric (INQUIETUDES, ALICE ET MARTIN, COMMENT JE ME SUIS DISPUTE.)Emmanuelle Devos (L'ADVERSAIRE, SUR MES LEVRES, ESTHER KAHN)Catherine Deneuve (8 WOMEN, DANCER IN THE DARK, INDOCHINE)Valentin Lelong"I love genre films, and the idea of seeing Nora dive into her memories made me feel that 'Kings & Queen' was a kind...

Toronto festival (Sept. 9-18) has revealed its full line upGALA PRESENTATIONSWorld PremiereARSÈNE LUPIN (F)Jean-Paul Salomé, France / United Kingdom / Spain / Italy, 2004World PremiereBEING JULIA (F)István Szabó, Canada / United Kingdom / Hungary, 2004World PremiereBEYOND THE SEA (F)Kevin Spacey, United Kingdom / Germany, 2004North American PremiereCLEAN (F)Olivier Assayas, France / United Kingdom / Canada, 2004World PremiereDOWNFALL (F)Oliver Hirschbiegel, Germany, 2004World PremiereFIVE CH...