At the recently-concluded 26th edition of Festival des 3 Continents at Nantes (France), Final Solution won two more international awards : Montgolfiere d’Or for Best Documentary adjudged by the Jury Le Prix Fip/Pil’ du Public – the Audience award for the Best Documentary This is the first ever time that an Indian documentary has won an award at the 3 Continents film festival in France. The other films in competition included Zairat by Bahman Kiarostami (Iran), Tierra de Agua by Carlos Klei...
The Latest New Wave: Argentinean Films at the London Film FestivalThe notion of 'new wave' is probably one of the most meaningless concepts used in film criticism. Since the French nouvelle vague of the sixties, each time a nation produces two or three talented directors, the critics start to talk about a new wave. If this term had existed in the twenties, German expressionism and French impressionism would surely have been described as such. In the last four decades, however, there are few new ...
2O Fingers won Best Film Venezia Cinema Digitale: interview with the author: Mania Akbari 20 Fingers - one of the most controversial films to come out of Iran, and the debut feature from Iranian actress and filmmaker Mania Akbari - has beaten off tough competition to be awarded the top prize in the inaugural Digitale competition at the Venice Film Festival.An international jury composed of English director Mike Figgis (president), Japanese producer Shozo Ichiyama, and French director Claire Simo...
TURTLES CAN FLY won the GOLDEN SHELL FOR BEST FILM at San Sebastian.Bahman Ghobadi, (the director's) Statement.Three days after the collapse of Saddam, I went to Baghdad to show my film Songs of my motherland as it was being released. Just as the superpowers were sending heavy weaponry to Iraq, my purpose was, on a symbolic level, to contribute artistically to what was going on.With the small DV camera I was carrying, I shot for a few weeks what I had witnessed in Baghdad, as well as in the othe...
The International Jury of the 52nd DONOSTIA-SAN SEBASTIAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL consisting of the members MARIO VARGAS LLOSA (President) YAMINA BENGUIGUI TOM DiCILLO MARTA ESTEBAN LAURA MORANTE EDUARDO SERRA DITO TSINTSADZE has decided to grant the following awards:JURY AWARD FOR BEST SCREENPLAY toGuy Hibbert y Paul Greengrass OMAGH (UK-Ireland) JURY AWARD FOR BEST PHOTOGRAPHY toMarcel Zyskind. NINE SONGS (UK-USA) SILVER SHELL FOR BEST ACTOR toUlrich Thomsen BRODRE (BROTHERS) (Denmark) SIL...
Locarno International Film Festival 2004It is common knowledge since Lenin's famous statement that film and politics are very intricately connected. This was nicely demonstrated by this year's Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival. More surprisingly, this year even the Locarno Film Festival, traditionally associated with young, off mainstream and world cinema, also took an explicitly political turn. The Locarno Film Festival was always the odd one out on the European festival scene. After the ...
VIVA LIFE!The Russian cinema program at the Moscow International Film Festival does not merely offer a panorama of its present state, it provides, so to speak, a formula of its condition at the moment, its detailed, full-fledged portrait.The panorama of new Russian cinema still bears the title «Russia, which we regained» and probably for the first time in recent years the name reflects the real state of affairs in our national cinema. First of all it is because during the past year alone our c...
Showing today: a selectionNOBODY KNOWS by KORE-EDA Hirokazu (in compétition)CONSEQUENCES OF LOVE by Paolo SORRENTINO (in compétition)SALVADOR ALLENDE by Patricio GUZMAN (out of compétition) TROY by Wolfgang PETERSEN (out of compétition) 10 ON TEN by Abbas KIAROSTAMI (Un certain regard) BIENVENUE EN SUISSE by Léa FAZER (Un certain regard)...
Filmfestivals, too many of them ? We, at filmfestivals keep a close watch on festival trends, run the most exhaustive database worldwide, have about 4000 affiliated festivals.Many media, mostly from the States, ask us and our experts and staff why the figure for festivals has grown so big in the recent years, and whether there are too many of them. Long story: long answer.Yes the number has grown big.In the US alone we counted some 650 of them as of to date.Less than 10 years ago there were only...
Strong presence of China and the Near East at 10th Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinemafrom 10th to 17th February 2004From 10th to 17th February 2004, faithful to its vocation, the 10th edition of Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema will once more reflect the Asian vast continent’s cultural pluralism, through films coming from the entire geographical Asia. Celebrating the Year of China in France, almost one third of the 67 films selected this year is dedicated to C...
