AMAL is an Arab word that means hope. It is also the name of the International Euro-Arab Film Festival, organised for the first time in 2003, by Fundación Araguaney-Puente de Culturas (Bridging Cultures) and held in Santiago de Compostela. It is the only festival in Europe aiming to present the social and cultural reality in Arab countries to a more and more increasing audience . Over the last six years, thanks to the exhibition of Arab and Euro-Arab productions and co-productions reflectin...
THE WHITE RIBBON (Michael Haneke)
by Sandy Mandelberger, TIFF Dailies Editor
The 34th Toronto International Film Festival is presenting 11 works that will be presented as part of the Masters programme, which brings audiences new works from the world’s greatest filmmakers.
MASTERS
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The programme for The Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival, announced today by Artistic Director Sandra Hebron, includes a diverse selection of world and international premieres with a total of 191 features and 113 shorts screening alongside an exciting line-up of special events and expected guests.Opening Night film, Wes Anderson’s FANTASTIC MR. FOX, is one of the Festival’s 15 world premieres and will be presented by the director and cast members including Meryl Streep, George Clooney, Bill...
Egypt's The Traveler (Al Mosafer) with Omar Sharif to screen as Opening Night Gala
The Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF) today unveiled the lineup of the feature-length narratives and documentaries that will compete for Black Pearl Awards worth over $1 million during the upcoming Festival. Presented by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, this year's MEIFF will run from October 8 to 17.
Peter Scarlet, the festival's new Executive Director commented, "...
The programme for The Times BFI 53rd London Film Festival, announced today by Artistic Director Sandra Hebron, includes a diverse selection of world and international premieres with a total of 191 features and 113 shorts screening alongside an exciting line-up of special events and expected guests.Opening Night film, Wes Anderson’s FANTASTIC MR. FOX, is one of the Festival’s 15 world premieres and will be presented by the director and cast members including Meryl Streep, George Clooney, Bill...
Marine Comedian Dave Rosner (DR) is an observant Jew who has performed comedy in clubs and synagogues in the United States, Australia, Canada, Kuwait, and Iraq. DR began in the entertainment industry at the age of eight, is known as the only Jewish Marine Comedian. He is member of the Friars Club who produced the Friars Club show "Tell it to the Marines." He hosted and produced "The Dave Rosner Comedy Rooms" in New York. He was recently on stand-up comedy tour with "Comics Ready to Entertain," i...
By Maria Esteves - July 24, 2009
Marine Comedian Dave Rosner (DR) is an observant Jew who has performed comedy in clubs and synagogues in the United States, Australia, Canada, Kuwait, and Iraq. DR began in the entertainment industry at the age of eight, is known as the only Jewish Marine Comedian. He is member of the Friars Club who produced the Friars Club show "Tell it to the Marines." He hosted and produced "The Dave Rosner Comedy Rooms" in New York. He was recently on ...
by Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Dailies Editor
With the Washington DC area still reeling from last week's shooting at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in the heart of the nation's capital, a hot-button documentary explores the nature of anti-semitism in both the United States and overseas. Israeli director Yoav Shamir, whose incendiary films on the Israeli/Palestine conflict won major awards at Sundance, Berlin and other festivals, brings a somewhat light-heartened tone to DEFAMATION...
I was afraid I was going to have to introduce myself. I'm here because of my loyalty to Paul Newman. Our autobiography? We met many years ago through work and became pals. When we became friends. One thing we agreed upon was that we both took work seriously, but did not take ourselves seriously. We played a lot of games/pranks and had a lot of fun, some of it mythology, some of it truth. As for life in general, we were both aware of the joy of success. Along the way, he ad the chance to fo...
Here are the awarded films at the 2009 edition of the Philadelphia Documentary & Fiction Festival.
To see the complete Official Selection, please visit www.philadelphia.filmfestnews.com
Special Prize to Best Documentary Film
LES ENFANTS SORCIERS DE KINSHASA by EMMANUEL REITZ - France
Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. After years of civil war and millions of death among the population, poverty and desperation is r...
Party time! Do not miss these ones but PLEASE do not ask us for invitesDaily Short Film Corner Happy hour May 14th the Cannes Market opening party, one of the major (serious) events to mingle and start promoting... May 14th Audi terrace The Audi Talents Awards with Thomas Dutronc live showcase May 15th 4pm Czech Film Center and Slovak Film Institue Welcome drinks party May 16th "Millennium" Party - Chacha Beach - Saturday May 16th at 10pmWith the cast and crew of MILLENIUM, the film ...
The International Film Festival Rotterdam has appointed Iwana Chronis to lead the festival's Hubert Bals Fund. Chronis will take the position of Fund Manager from June 1, 2009. She takes over from Bianca Taal, who led the fund from 2007 until March 2009, when she left the IFFR to work for the Binger Filmlab in Amsterdam.
Iwana Chronis (1977) has extensive working experience in combining culture and international development. She studied Theatre, Film and Television Studies at the Uni...
At the Opening Night party for Independent Film Festival Boston 2008, I asked Managing Director Brian Tamm about the festival’s selection process and whether they keep any themes in mind when filling out the schedule. His response was: “We just try to select the best films we can. You guys [the press] tell us what the themes are.”
Well, let’s see what they came up with.
With the Opening Night thriller’s frostbitten Siberian north (Transsiberian) and the Closing Nig...
"Erev tov, Mr. Eran Riklis": “The words that come to mind when one sees “Lemon Tree”/”Etz Lemon”, which premiered this past week, and is currently playing at IFC, and “Syrian Bride”, are courage, resiliency, and loss. In “Lemon Tree”/”Etz Lemon”, the strong-willed Palestinian female lead, Salma Zidane, played by Hiam Abbass, from “The Visitor”, faces losing her inherited lemon orchard when an Israeli Defense Minister Navon and his wife, Mira Navon, played by Rona Lipa...
"Erev tov, Mr. Eran Riklis": “The words that come to mind when one sees “Lemon Tree”/”Etz Lemon”, which premiered this past week, and is currently playing at IFC, and “Syrian Bride”, are courage, resiliency, and loss. In “Lemon Tree”/”Etz Lemon”, the strong-willed Palestinian female lead, Salma Zidane, played by Hiam Abbass, from “The Visitor”, faces losing her inherited lemon orchard when an Israeli Defense Minister Navon and his wife, Mira Navo...
By Maria Esteves - March 22, 2009
The outstanding sold-out musical performance of "THE SPIRIT OF SEPHARAD" in celebration of Purim presented by and held at Queens Theatre in the Park, New York, on Saturday, March 7, 2009, 8:00pm was a spiritual brilliance! Sephardic music maestro Gerard Edery and the Caravan Ensemble mesmerized audience with a superb mixed media performance (songs, stories, dance and media) of the rich cultural history of Sephardic Judiasm from medieval Spain ...
11th TDF: TRIBUTES AND SPOTLIGHTS (2/13/2009)
11th THESSALONIKI DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL - Images of the 21st Century
MARCH 13 – 22, 2009
TRIBUTES AND SPOTLIGHTS
TRIBUTE: AFRICA
The 11th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, within its goal of promoting social and political awareness, has chosen Africa as its main thematic tribute for its 11th edition. For the first time in Greece and the Balkans, African documentaries rel...
Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage and Middle East International Film Festival executives conclude Berlinale delegationAbu Dhabi, 25th February 2009: ADACH and MEIFF executives along with MEIFF film programmers concluded their week long delegation to the 59th Berlin International Film Festival, returning to Abu Dhabi with a handful of potential co-operations and films for this year’s Middle East International Film Festival and other ADACH film-related projects. The delegation to Berl...
As noted in our February 4th write up, setting up the first regional film market is part of a comprehensive strategy by the Emirate of Dubai to create a sophisticated media infrastructure. It includes dating Dubai media city for electronic and print media with 1300 mostly foreign companies; Dubai Internet City; the International Media Production Zone; Dubai Studio City housing the biggest and technologically most advanced studio facility in the Middle East; and the five year old Dubai Internatio...
Thefifth Dubai International Film Festival held in December 2008 introduced animportant new component, the Dubai Film Market. To date Dubai has been among theEmirates the fastest growing tourist and business destination and has investedbillions of dollars into establishing a state of the art communications andmedia infrastructure. This includes a film sector for which the Dubai FilmFestival and the Dubai Film Market are essential ingredients, not to speak ofthe imminent opening in Dubai of th...
Director: Ibrahim El Batout.
From once being the capital of Egypt during the Pharaonic era and a sacred location marked by the visit of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, Ein Shams has become one of Cairo’s poorest and most neglected neighbourhoods. Through the eyes of Shams, an eleven year old girl inhabitant of this neighbourhood, the film captures the sadness and magic that envelops everyday life in Egypt. In a series of heart-rending events, the diverse characters of the film showcase the intricacies of Egypt’s political system and social structure, and give a glimpse into the grievances of the Middle East region and the complex relationships of its nations.
The European Film Market (EFM) is presenting the 2009 EFM Industry Debates (February 6 to 8).
Celebrated film journalists, representatives, and financial backers from around the world will discuss the possibilities and opportunities emerging as a result of the global financial and economic crisis. In what ways are international markets changing? What kinds of opportunities do new strategies create? How are film projects to be financed in the future despite the general credit cru...
The RIFF is a special encounter of the best of world cinema with some of the most inovative work coming out of the Middle East. A Rare view of world societies, It is also part of a larger effort to develop the AV sector in Palestine.
The 2007 New York Arab & South Asian Film Festival
(NYASAFF) presents the best in recent features, docs,
& shorts from North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. For more information check at www.alwanforthearts.org/filmfestival
Each year in Nantes, since 1979, the Festival of 3 Continents (F3C) presents between 80 and 100 films, fiction works and documentaries, from Africa, Latin America and Asia.