Independent icon Seymour Cassel lends his name to new festival award.    There is hardly an actor who better embodies the passion and love for independent cinema than American performer Seymour Cassel. For more than 50 years he has been working in front of the camera and is revered for his work with John Cassavetes while being THE face of independent cinema. Sam Peckinpah, Don Siege, Kenn Russell and Alender Rockwell or Wes Anderson have used his luminous qualities. For his performan...

  Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning writer/director Oliver Stone ("Platoon," "Wall Street") was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 14th annual Savannah Film Festival on Thursday, Nov. 3. Hosted by the Savannah College of Art and Design, Stone dedicated his award to native Savannahian and well-known publicist Bobby Zarem, whom he has known for more than 30 years. "The memory of my achievement lies in Savannah, a city Bobby loves s...

The Savannah Film Festival, hosted by the Savannah College of Art and Design, honored actress Ellen Barkin ("The Big Easy," "Ocean's Thirteen") and actor Ray Liotta ("Goodfellas," "Hannibal") with Outstanding Achievement in Cinema Awards during the opening weekend of the 14th annual event, which kicked off Saturday, Oct. 29 and runs through Saturday, Nov. 5, in historic Savannah, Ga. Barkin received the honor prior to the screening of her inde...

The Savannah Film Festival, hosted by the Savannah College of Art and Design, honored actress Ellen Barkin ("The Big Easy," "Ocean's Thirteen") and actor Ray Liotta ("Goodfellas," "Hannibal") with Outstanding Achievement in Cinema Awards during the opening weekend of the 14th annual event, which kicked off Saturday, Oct. 29 and runs through Saturday, Nov. 5, in historic Savannah, Ga.Barkin received the honor prior to the screening of her independent film, "Another Happy Day," which centers on a ...

  One need not look up at the skies in the Canadian metropolis of Toronto to see stars. There will be as many stars at street level (make that red carpet level) as there will be in the heavens as the 2011 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival continues through this Sunday. Brad Pitt, George Clooney, James Franco, Rachel Weisz, Salma Hayek and Viggo Mortensen will be backing a flurry of Hollywood and indie movie bows in Toronto, as will Keira Knightley, Clive Owen, Ge...

By Maria Esteves - March 8, 2010 The 82nd Academy Awards ceremony presented by Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (A.M.P.A.S.) for outstanding film achievements of 2009, co-hosted by Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin was held at the Kodak Theatre, Hollywood, California, Sunday, March 2, 8:00pm ET (5:00pm PT). Live coverage of 2010 Oscar Awards were seen in the U.S. on ABC Television Network, on the internet, and in more than 200 countries worldwide. THE HURT LOCKER received the aw...

"The Hurt Locker" (the Iraq War drama) won best picture and five other prizes at the Academy Awards, including best director for Kathryn Bigelow. Bigelow is the first woman in the Oscars history to receive Best Director award. "It's the moment of a lifetime," she said. "I hope I'm the first of many," she said afterward backstage. "The Hurt Locker" won best picture in a year where there were 10 nominees instead of the usual five - an effort to include...

 by Marla LewinLenny Kravitz and Mariah Carey celebrate with Lee Daniels at Spirit AwardsLee Daniels' Precious swept the 25th anniversary of the Film Independent Spirit Awards taking home the Best Feature, Best Director, Best First Screenplay, Best Female Lead and Best Supporting Female awards. Precious won in every category for which it was nominated taking 5 awards. The other winners were lucky that Precious didn't have any male actors nominated and Lee Daniels wasn't a first time filmmaker....

By Maria Esteves - February 2, 2010 The 82nd Academy Awards nominations were announced by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) President Tom Sherak and 2008 Oscar nominee Anne Hathaway, on Tuesday, February 2, 2010. AVATAR, directed by James Cameron and THE HURT LOCKER, directed by Kathryn Bigelow (Cameron's ex-wife) picked up nine Oscar nominations including best picture and best director. The 82nd Academy Awards ceremony presented by AMPAS for outstanding film achieve...

Ok, so if you know me and you’ve been following my blog on Santa Barbara, you’re probably wondering why I’ve been so ‘mild’ thus far. (I love using ‘thus’ in a blog) Well, that’s because, while all the events are exciting in themselves and have a collective energy that rivals something you’d find at an amusement park, frankly, I’ve been pacing myself … until today.  Inspiration By Kimberly Deisler In the ten years I’ve been working this festival, the writers panel, �...

by Marla Lewin Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak and 2008 Oscar® nominee Anne Hathaway took the stage at a 5:38 a.m. PT this morning, live news conference to announce the nominees in 10 of the 24 categories. Nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards Best motion picture of the year Avatar(20th Century Fox), A Lightstorm Entertainment Production, James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers The Blind Side (Warner Bros.), An Alcon Entertai...

by Marla LewinAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak and 2008 Oscar® nominee Anne Hathaway took the stage at a 5:38 a.m. PT this morning, live news conference to announce the nominees in 10 of the 24 categories.Nominations for the 82nd Academy AwardsBest motion picture of the yearAvatar(20th Century Fox), A Lightstorm Entertainment Production, James Cameron and Jon Landau, ProducersThe Blind Side (Warner Bros.), An Alcon Entertainment Production, Nominees to be determ...

    Yes, we all expected AVATAR and THE HURT LOCKER to have good showings for this morning's Oscar nomination announcements (they are both tied at 9 nominations each) and we were not surprised when the names George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep were intoned at the 5:30am ceremony in Los Angeles. And yes, even the six nods for PRECIOUS (including well-deserved nominations for Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, director Lee Daniels and screenwriter Geoffrey Flet...

The official nominations for the Orange British Academy Film Awards in 2010                           BEST FILM AVATAR - James Cameron, Jon Landau AN EDUCATION - Finola Dwyer, Amanda Posey THE HURT LOCKER - Nominees TBC PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE - Lee D...

BEST FILM AVATAR - James Cameron, Jon Landau AN EDUCATION - Finola Dwyer, Amanda Posey THE HURT LOCKER - Nominees TBC PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE - Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness, Gary Magness UP IN THE AIR - Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman, Daniel Dubiecki OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILMAN EDUCATION - Finola Dwyer, Amanda Posey, Lone Scherfig, Nick Hornby FISH TANK - Kees Kasander, Nick Laws, Andrea Arnold IN THE LOOP - Kevin Loader, Adam Tandy, Armando Iannucci, Jesse Armstrong, Sim...

by Marla LewinFilm Independent announced nominations this morning for the 25th Film Independent Spirit Awards.  Nominees for Best Feature include (500) Days Of Summer, Amreeka, Precious, Sin Nombre and The Last Station.  Taraji P. Henson and Matt Dillon also announced finalists for the Acura Someone to Watch Award, the Truer Than Fiction Award, and the Piaget Producers Award. A Serious Man was selected for the Robert Altman Award, which is given to one film’s director, casting director and ...

The 21st Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present Mariah Carey with the Breakthrough Performance Award for her performance in Lionsgate's Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" By Sapphire. Presented by Cartier, the Awards Gala will kick off the 2010 awards season on Tuesday, January 5 at the Palm Springs Convention Center and will be hosted by "Entertainment Tonight's" Mary Hart. The Festival runs January 5-18, 2010. Festival chairman Haro...

The Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF), announced today the two features that will bookend the Festival as the Opening and Closing Night films. Bahamian filmmaker Kareem Mortimer's acclaimed indie drama CHILDREN OF GOD will raise the curtain at this year's festival as the official Opening Night Film while Lee Daniels' critically lauded drama PRECIOUS starring Gabourey Sidibe, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz, Sherri Shepherd and Paula Patton will bring the week's festivities to an end as the ...