Festival Director Alan Franey and programmer Tony Rayns today announced that the 25th annual Vancouver International Film Festival will feature a total of 39 features, three mid-length films and 35 shorts in the Festival's cornerstone Dragons & Tigers: The Cinemas of East Asia program. Again presented this year thanks to the generous support of Brad Birarda of Research Capital, the Dragons & Tigers program is one of the preeminent showcases of East Asian films in the world. The series will featu...
The Sydney Film Festival wrapped up a memorable two weeks of international and Australian films this weekend with the presentation of the Dendy Awards for Australian Short Film, the Urban Cinefile Audience Awards, as well as the FIPRESCI Award for Best Documentary. The awards were followed by the slick closing night film Thanks for Not Smoking, starring Aaron Eckhart as spin doctor Nick Naylor who works for the Academy of Tobacco Studies. Spiked with black humour (Nick dines every week with the ...
Thursday, June 15----A documentary film festival always has some common threads to it. Many involve hot-button political issues about social inequity, conflict and the abuse of government. SILVERDOCS certainly has its share of those. However, a more personal genre, that can best be described as films that celebrate the triumph of the human spirit, is also in evidence here, in a number of superb films.
BLACK SUN by UK director Gary Tan, had its premiere at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival and was ...
Director's comments about the film " World War IV" :
"It seems that all the world is waiting for the third world war; the war which will destroy many parts of the world and kill so many people all over the world. Most people think that new weapons such as atomic bombs will cause such a catastrophe but I think that new destroyer is a more dangerous and more fatal enemy: AIDS or HIV virus. The film “4th World War
The 25th installment of the Istanbul Film Festival provided a golden opportunity to gain an overview of Turkish cinema, both of current and more or less "classic" vintage. A grand total of 37 Turkish films were shown in four distinct categories. The national competition consisting of nine films from the past year; Award winning Turkish films of the past 25 years; a three film tribute to master filmmaker Erden Kiral, and one feature length documentary. Although singleton Turkish films such as "Bo...
Film Festival Maastricht 6th - 9th April- The film event of the South!For a period of 4 days Filmtheater Lumière will be the venue for the annual ’film festival Maastricht’. The second edition of the festival comprises more than 40 titles for your consideration. With anything between new mainstream films, cutting-edge independent-productions from the U.S., the best in world cinema from all over the globe and major new works from renowned artists in the business making up the program, it ...
Following City of God with his first (largely) English language film, Fernando Meirelles proves an inspired choice to direct screenwriter Jeffrey Caine's adaptation of John Le Carré's acclaimed novel, bringing modernity and visual brio to the multi-layered and deeply affecting story.In a remote area of Northern Kenya, passionate human rights activist Tessa Quayle (Rachel Weisz) is found brutally murdered. Her travelling companion, a local doctor, appears to have fled the scene, and the evidence...
HAMBURG 13 CLOSES WITH CASH PRIZES AND ELECTRIC SHADOWSThe thirteenth installment of the Hamburg Film Festival came to a close on September 29 with an invitational screening of the Chinese film "Electric Shadows" (Dyan-Ying), which is simply a direct translation of the Chinese word for "movies". The film is basically a declaration of love for the medium itself, and female director Xiao Jiang picked up a nice little purse of 10,000 Euros, the Otto Sprenger Prize for best debut film. Sprenger is ...
Dropping in on the Hamburg film festival on the way back from San Sebastian is something like stopping off at a neighbourhood bar for a nightcap after a gala bash at the Waldorf. Which is not to say that Hamburg is not interesting or lacking in films of merit -- just that it's on a much smaller scale (although Hamburg, as a city, is far bigger than San Sebastian) and is geared to the tastes of the local film-buff public, rather than to industry professionals. Films are shown in five venues, mo...
The following films will compete for the San Sebastian honors in competition in the only Festival in Spain to hold the International Federation of Film Producers Association's top-level "non-specialised competitive" category. The Festival will celebrate its 53rd year between September 15 and 24, at a moment of tremendous popularity and excellent image. The entire city participates in its Festival as it fills with visitors attracted by the movies, the Festival atmosphere, the local food and touri...
Toronto International Film Festival Opens with World Premiere of Deepa Mehta’s WATERToronto International Film Festival opening night was a triumph on September 8th with the premiere of Deepa Mehta’s dynamic film WATER. Finishing out her ode to the elements this is the final film in her trilogy, following FIRE (1996) and EARTH (1998). Mehta film brought a classic presents to the 30th anniversary of one on the largest film festivals in the world. Mehta’s element series FIRE and EARTH were...
OUTSTANDING INTERNATIONAL FILM FIGURES COMPETE FOR THE GOLDEN SHELLThe official programme of the Donostia-San Sebastián Festival, scheduled for 15-24 September next, features a series of outstanding names from the moviemaking world who sketch a cinematographic portrait of our contemporary reality. While some of them regularly participate it the Festival, others are competing for the first time. PreviewTIDELAND, Terry Gilliam, UK.Terry Gilliam, to whom the Festival dedicated a retrospective in ...
Acclaimed Canadian filmmaker Robin Spry, who died in a car crash in March, will be honoured with a retrospective including five of his early films during the Festival’s inaugural edition, September 18-25, 2005.One of the most important documentary directors of the National Film Board in the late 1960s and early 70s, Spry went on to become a fiction director of considerable repute with such political and social dramas as Prologue (1969), One Man (1977), Drying Up the Streets (1978) and Suzanne ...
Toronto International Film Festival will open with of World Premiere of WATERToronto International Film Festival is set to open on September 8th to the 17th, 2005. This will be the 30th anniversary of the top North American Film Festival and one of the most respected Festivals in the world. To date programmers have acquired to screen 11 world premieres, five international premieres, and nine North American premieres from 17 countries. Last years Festival was close to 350 films from over 50 count...
45th KRAKOW SHORT & DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL "L'embarras de choix" The 'Krakow Internationl Festival of Short and Documentary Films', which is now its 45th incarnation Making it one of the oldest and most prestigious festivals of this kind in the world, has shortened its official monicker to a more simple "KRAKOW INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL" and has expanded its offerings to a mind-boggling 440 films -- all screened within six days as singleton showings in four different locations. With this ...
The 2005 Newport International Film Festival, the 8th Annual event, will get underway Tuesday, June 7th – 12th, 2005, and run for six glorious days and nights of entertaining films, informative symposiums, and, of course, those glamorous Newport parties. The Festival atmosphere is relaxed, yet filled with all the enchantment, energy, and excitement of Hollywood. The Newport International Film Festival draws filmmakers and celebrities from around the world. This year the festival will honor wri...
The 2005 Newport International Film Festival, the 8th Annual event, will get underway Tuesday, June 7th – 12th, 2005, and run for six days and nights of entertaining films, informative symposiums, and, of course, those glamorous Newport parties. The Festival atmosphere is relaxed, yet filled with all the enchantment, energy, and excitement of Hollywood. This year the festival will honor writer/director/actor/musician Michael McKean with the annual Claiborne Pell Award for Lifetime Achievement....
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu from Romanian director Cristi Puiu was awarded the Un Certain Regard-Fondation GAN Prize, bestowed by the Jury headed by American director Alexander Payne. This sort of road-movie in an ambulance follows the nighttime trip of 63-year-old Mr. Lazarescu, who is sick and living alone in an apartment with three cats. La Fondation GAN pour le Cinéma, in association with the Un Certain Regard section, awarded this prize worth 30,000 euros to the French distributor of the fi...
FIPRESCI Prize: PRIVATE (Saverio Costanzo, Italy, 2004)Jury Statement – Marcelo Janot, Henry Sheehan and Zlatko Vidackovic We found that PRIVATE combined creative ingenuity and passion in ways that would be unusual for a seasoned director, never mind for someone making a debut feature. Saverio Costanzo has created a dramatic situation that could easily have lent itself to sloganeering: A self-confident and educated Palestinian family suddenly finds its house occupied by an Israeli army platoon...
U.S.A., 2004, 85 Minutes, colorDirector: Henry-Alex Rubin,Dana Adam ShapiroDana Adam Shapiro read an article on of all things, US Quad Rugby in 2003 and became intrigued. Not imaging that this would take him on a two and a half year journey and making a film that captures the heart of most any competitive athletics. Dana soon contacted his old colleges roommate Jeff Mandel and a film was soon born. Dana Adam Shapiro and Jeff Mandel then pulled together a core crew including Cinematographer, ...
BERMUDA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2005 LINEUP“THE UPSIDE OF ANGER” and “MAD HOT BALLROOM” OPEN and CLOSE MICHAEL WINTERBOTTOM TO BE “FILMAKER IN FOCUS” Showcasing a film line-up as rich and eclectic as the culture of the island itself, the Bermuda International Film Festival will welcome visitors for the 8th annual Fest, March 18-24. . The Bermuda International Film Festival invites influences from around the world with films that will compete for Best Feature from the ...
Opening Night film, LONESOME JIM, sells out four theatersLONESOME JIM, the new film directed by Steve Buscemi, opened the 29th Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) on Thursday, March 10, 2005. Over 1100 film lovers attended the Opening Night festivities, breaking all previous attendance records of the CIFF. And for the first time, the opening night film was sold out on four screens at the festival’s venue, Tower City Cinemas on The Avenue at Tower City Center in downtown Cleveland.LO...
Attenborough Award at Santa Barbara International Film Festival goes to...Sir David AttenboroughLeonardo got the red carpet. Sir David Attenborough got contagious applause. Total energy.Annette Bening and Kate Winslet got a hundred flashbulbs popping every minute.Sir David got reverence. Those who run the Santa Barbara International Film Festival know.The red carpet should belong to Sir David Attenborough. The festival’s artistic director Roger Durling gushed, threw around the words “rivetin...
LONESOME JIM will open the 29th Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) on Thursday, March 10th. The film, a comedy directed by Steve Buscemi, stars Casey Affleck, Liv Tyler, Mary Kay Place, and Seymour Cassel. Jim (Casey Affleck) is an aspiring 27-year-old writer who left the barrens of Indiana for New York City. Like most young writers who don’t have a clue, Jim left behind a rich array of material to write about. This revelation, among others, takes him awhile to figure out when he...
34th International Film Festival Rotterdam26 January - 6 February 2005During the CineMart 2005 Closing Night Party, Wednesday February 2, 2005 in the Rotterdam 'Schiecentrale', the first Arte France Cinema Awards went to CineMart 2005 Projects FIVE WORLDS and DARATT (DRY SEASON) and the fifth Prince Claus Fund Film Grant was awarded to CineMart 2005 Project HAMACA PARAGUAYA.Forty-seven film projects have been selected for the 22nd CineMart, the first and largest co-production market worldwide, h...
