There are Stars and there Super-Stars, then there is MADONNA... a kind of media SuperNova, who blows other stars away, sends photogs scurrying like cockroaches in heat, and attracts incredible throngs of gawkers even when she isn’t trying to outrage the Bourgeois and seems to be on her best behavior. The forty-nine year old Queen of Pop arrived in Berlin on Wednesday looking very trim in a smart, conservative black dress, six inch high heels, and her blonde tresses parted neatly in the middle...

By Maria Esteves - October 19, 2007 The 45th New York Film Festival (NYFF) 2007, Closing Night Premiere film, PERSEPOLIS a Sony Pictures Classics, directed/written by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, was held at Avery Fisher Hall, Sunday, October 14, 8:30pm. The festival presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center was sponsored by SARDEGNA and The New York Times. Winner of the Special Jury Award, 2007 Cannes Film Festival, Oscar Nominee for Best Foreign Language in France, ...

As Jordan Peimer said in his introduction to the Tribute to Catherine Deneuve on Saturday evening, it's hard to think of anyone who epitomizes beauty and elegance more. Peimer, the Director of Cultural Programming for the Skirball Cultural Center, started off the night of clips from Deneuve's career and remembrances from the great French actress herself. A spectacular montage of Deneuve's over 100 films set up moderator and Los Angeles Times film critic Ken Turan's job of guiding the audience t...

Alex Deleon is a festival ambassador with filmfestivals.com portal and fest21.com the online community for festival professionals. 57th BERLIN FEST OPENS WITH STARS TO BURN The Berlin Film Festival is traditionally one of the most star studded events on the annual Festival calendar and this 57th edition is no exception.  Among stars and celebrities already spotted either on the red carpet entering gala screenings, at press conferences, or at events in other parts of town away from Marlene Diet...

The Berlin Film Festival is traditionally one of the most star studded events on the annual Festival calendar and this 57th edition is no exception.  Among stars and celebrities already spotted either on the red carpet entering gala screenings, at press conferences, or at events in other parts of town away from Marlene Dietrich square, in just the first four days; Richard Gere, Sharon Stone, Clint Eastwood, Antonio Banderas, Catherine Deneuve, Judie Dench, Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Carl...

The Berlin Film Festival is traditionally one of the most star studded events on the annual Festival calendar and this 57th edition is no exception. Among stars and celebrities already spotted either on the red carpet entering gala screenings, at press conferences, or at events in other parts of town away from Marlene Dietrich square, in just the first four days; Richard Gere, Sharon Stone, Clint Eastwood, Antonio Banderas, Catherine Deneuve, Judie Dench, Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Carl Lagerf...

The attention grabbing film on day number three was "Children of Men", a British pic directed by Mexican helmer Alfonso Cuarón and starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore and Michael Caine. The film, projected in the special side-bar, ZABALTEGI- PERLAS or "Pearls of the Open Zone", is set in the not too distant future, one generation from now, and presents the possibility that humanity could die out if the last pregnant woman on Earth does not give birth. In the film all females in the world (all ...

“Help Wanted: Mature, well-known movie actresses to preside over juries at major film festivals. Temporary work, well paid, five-star hotel accommodations with many extras and fringe benefits. French or English speaking preferred. Under sixty need not apply”.While I did not actually see this ad anywhere except in my mind’s eye, this seems to be the year in which such a theoretical ad might have been circulated in the cinema “trade papers”.. With legendary French actress Jeanne Morea...

With the festival entering its twilight phase there is no apparent letup in surprises and flashy new films. Three big ones yesterday were Kenneth Branagh's eagerly anticipated world premiere of a new screen version of Mozart's "Magic Flute", Manoel Oliveira's homage to Bunuel's "Belle de Jour", and another bravura turn by Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada". La Streep, (a magnificent 57), the last big star of the week to hit town, held forth in a most interesting press conference in which s...

The centenary anniversaries of Rossellini, Soldati and ViscontiThe Magic Flute by Kenneth Branagh in premiere at the Teatro La FeniceThe great French actress, Catherine Deneuve, will preside over the International Jury of the 63rd Venice International Film Festival, to be held between 30th August and 9th September 2006, and which will assign the Golden Lion for best film.The decision was taken by the Board of Directors of the Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Davide Croff, approving the suggestion...

23rd Avignon Film FestivalTransatlantic Crossroads of Independent CinemaJune 22-25, 2006Now in its 23rd year, the Avignon Film Festival (known in France as “Rencontres Cinématographiques Euro-Américaines d’Avignon”) will launch its 2006 edition on Thursday, June 22, with John Turturro’s “Romance & Cigarettes” (starring Kate Winslet, James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Steve Buscemi, Christopher Walken, Mary Louise Parker and Elaine Stritch). Mr. Turturro will be one of the guests of ...

There may not have been much to chew on in Ron Howard’s The Da Vinci Code but there are stronger signs of female power at Cannes making this festival one of the best. First of all there is the veteran actor- the magnifique Gena Rowlands featured in Paris, Je T'Aime in Un Certain Regard and gave a Master Class on acting commencing with a standing ovation. Almost everything that comes out of the mouth of this veteran actor is inspirational and provocative: "We actors do not need to die to be r...

The 25th Istanbul International Film Festival celebrated its Silver Anniversary by hosting a bevy of French Stars (Jeanne Moreau, Gerard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve) and presenting a marathon review of world and, especially, Turkish cinema during the two and a half week run from April 1 to April 17. The fest opened on a slightly sour note when French superstar Alain Delon, invited to receive a life time award on opening night, pulled a No-Show for "very personal reasons". Actress Isabelle ...

Catherine Deneuve is the latest in a line of well-known names descending on Istanbul this week to show their support for the 25th edition of the İstanbul International Film Festival. Deneuve is expected to arrive on Friday and will be received as guest of honour at the awards ceremony of the festival which will see the Golden Tulip going to the best international film and cash prizes worth more than US$100,000 going to winners in the Turkish National Competition.Also expected on the same d...

The winners of the 4th Bangkok International Film Festival Golden Kinnaree Awards were announced at a gala black-tie dinner attended by international dignitaries from around the world last night. HRH Princess Ubol Rattana presented the Kinnaree award to winners selected by an international jury of producers, actors and directors from the entertainment industry.French star Catherine Deneuve was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by HRH Princess Ubol Rattana in recognition of her contr...

One of the first lessons Catherine Deneuve has to impart is perhaps every aspiring actor’s route: going to the cinema at a very early age and embracing the sound and images of film as if it were a second skin. Deneuve claimed her work with Jacques Demy in Les Parapluies de Cherbourg was the turning point for her career and the education she received from him gave her a solid foundation with which to draw back upon later in her career. As a young actress she admitted to being open to the sugge...

FRENCH CINEMA HEATS UP SNOWY NEW YORKWhile winter continues to hold a grip on New York City just days away from the official start of Spring, the scent of optimism, passion and love is palpable, as the annual Rendez-Vous With French Cinema, an exquisite showcase of the finest films from la Belle France, begins this weekend at New York’s Lincoln Center.New York has had a long love affair with French cinema. From the pre-war classics of Jean Renoir, Jean Vigo and Marcel Carne, the film noir oeuv...

"U-CARMEN eKHYELITSHA" is an extremely unusual version of the opera Carmen set in a squalid shanty-town "Township", Khyelitsha, near Capetown, South Africa --and sung entirely by African singers in the "click language", Khosa! This black Carmen is a light year beyond the light brown "Carmen Jones" of 1954 which starred Harry Belafonte and Dorothy Dandridge and seemed so sucy and racy at the time. For one thing, Pauline Malefane (Carmen) is not a slender Hollywood mannekin type like Dandridge ...

55th Berlin International Film FestivalBerlin - Official Selection Opening Night - In Competition MAN TO MAN -(FRANCE-UK)by RÉGIS WARGNIER (Indochine, Est-Ouest)CAST ATTENDING BERLIN: JOSEPH FIENNES (Luther, Shakespeare in Love), KRISTIN SCOTT-THOMAS (Four Weddings and a Funeral, The English Patient), IAIN GLEN (Gorillas in the Mist), HUGH BONNEVILLE (Notting Hill), LOMAMA BOSEKI, CÉCILE BAYIHA 1870. Young Scottish doctor Jamie Dodd and adventuress Elena van den Ende journey into the dark hea...

The International Film Festival has created a new series in its Official Programme: the Berlinale Special. In it the latest works of great filmmakers will be screened as well as reshowings of important film works, and productions related to the Festival’s special focuses or to particularly explosive political topics.This year’s series includes three reshowings, the most recent films of master directors Peter Greenaway and Ermanno Olmi, two productions examining the political past, and three ...