"Film" doesn't mean what it used
to. While it may still be, in the words of Jean-Luc Godard, "truth
at 24 frames per second" audiences no longer need to pay $8
to see the truth. Movies can be digital, cost less to make than
a Ford Taurus (as we all learned from The Blair Witch), and
they can be screened on your very own computer. With this changing
technology, the film festival cir...
New
York in September. I was one of 50 invited guests who were brought
in to sample the new digital video projection technology developed
by Sony that, they say, will ultimately replace 35mm film as the standard
for viewing of "films".
I have
been one of the skeptics in this area, a stalwart defender of 35mm
optics as the highest standard of visual appreciation. Many of colleagues
have trump...
You
can't judge a book by its cover, but can you judge a festival by
its website? That's what we wondered when we set out to explore
the websites of the many festivals on the circuit. With more than
1,000 festivals in our festival directory, we examined a selection
of 100 fest websites in hopes of sorting out what options festivals
make available to their global visitors.
Of
...
More
than a dozen Iranian filmmakers captured top prizes at major
international film festivals in 2000. This should not come
as a big surprise; the post-revolutionary Iranian cinema has
been a festival favorite for more than a decade now, and its
dominance shows no sign of abating. Indeed, the more favorable
production climate following President Khatami's 1997 elec...
One
of India's prominent filmmakers, Buddhadeb Dasgupta was named Best
Director at the Indian National Awards this year "for his skillful
weaving of different strands of life through metaphors, symbols
and folk icons in Uttara."
His
films have gained increased festival exposure over the years, landing
several audience prizes (at Fribourg and Nantes for example), a
nota...
Stephen
Daldry's debut, Billy
Elliot, was a highlight of Edinburgh, not least because of
its upbeat yet honest narrative and a startling performance from Jamie
Bell. Having wowed Cannes, Edinburgh and Toronto, the film is already
being eyed-up for next year's BAFTA (British Academy Awards) and Oscar
spots. Asked
to name the two bright lights of British theater, many would say Sam
Mende...
Jia Zhang Ke's
three-hour film Platform
was
screened at the Venice International Film Festival and was the recent
winner at the Festival
des Trois Continents in Nantes, France. Jia
Zhang Ke is no stranger to the
festival however, having already won its top prize, the Montgolfier
d'Or two years earlier for Pickpocket. Robin Gatto caught up
with Jia Zhang Ke and cinematogra...
"Some people say 'It's a road movie.' I say, it's a movie
on the road."
Don't
Cry Germaine is turning up a winning film on both sides
of the Atlantic, winning the People's Choice Award
at Flanders
and Mannheim,
as well as Best Actor at Ft
Lauderdale. For Belgian director Alain de Halleux, this is
his feature debut and these prizes confirm ...
Roy
Disney, nephew of Walt, and Chairman of Disney's feature animation,
has worked for the 'Mouse House' for over thirty years. Responsible for
everything from Toy Story to The Lion King, Roy is an unashamed lover
of comedy and escapist family entertainment. While in Belfast to open
Cinemagic, and in his only interview for online media, Roy talked with
us about IMAX and the future of Fantasia, the problems with Dinosaur,
the s...
After a few
screenings of Amores Perros in the Critics' Week section at Cannes,
director Alejandro González Iñárritu went from being an obscure director
to an overbooked and highly-sought one. FilmFestivals.com reporter Christophe
Pinol managed to catch up with Iñárritu at Cannes, back when the buzz
was just beginning.
Since then,
this now-famous Mexican director has won the Critics Week, the Grand Prize
at Edinbu...
Junji
Sakamoto burst onto Japan's indie film scene in 1989 with his feature
debut Knock Out! He has since been regarded as one of Japan's
most offbeat, hilarious directors. Filmfestivals.com met up with
Sakamoto
at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, where he presented
his latest feature, Face.
The young director then headed to South Korea, where his film screened
...
Among
the 4 films screening in the Nippon Cinema Now section at Tokyo
Festival was Chinpira by Rokuro Mochizuki. Early in
the year, his erotic film Currency
and Blonde was well received at Venice
2000.
"I
have always filmed sex scenes with no inhibition".
Rokuro
Mochizuki
You seem
...
"Damn women are the ruination of men."
This
is the motto in Arturo
Ripstein's The
Ruination of Men, scripted by his wife Paz Alicia Garciadiego.
The film won the Golden Shell at San Sebastian, proving that Alejandro
Gonzales Inarritu (Amores Perros) is not the only director
from Mexico to dazzle festival audiences.
FilmFestivals.com caught up with this powe...
"Women have always been my source of spiritual progress and elevation
in life," says
French director Jean Pierre Sinapi.
With his latest film Nationale
7, he breaks the taboo of disabled sexuality with a ferocious
humor and a small DV camera. In this film, which won the Audience
Prize at both Berlin and San Sebastian festivals, Sinapi pays a tribute
to a woman very dear to his heart -- his sister, a...
Australian
Film Awards 2000
November 18
As
predicted in our exclusive preview, the 2000 Australian Film Institute
Awards turned out to be a close contest between Chopper
and Looking
for Alibrandi.
The films shared the major awards on the night; but in the
end it was Looking for Alibrandi which took the top honour
- Best Film. ...
BIFA/British Independent Film Awards
October 25
In just three short years, the British
Independnet Film Awards (BIFA) has become one of the local film
industry's must-attend events. The brainchild of Elliot Grove, the
Canadian-turned-Londoner who also helms the annual Raindance Film
Festival here, the Awards now have received the official sanction
of the industry elite ...
The
Boston Society of Film Critics announced their picks for 2000 on
December 17.
And
the winners are ...
Best
Picture
Almost
Famous by Cameron Crowe
Best
Director
Cameron Crowe for Almost Famous
Best
Screenplay (tie)
Cameron Crowe for Almost Famous
with Steven Kloves' for W...
Cairo International Film Festival
November 8 - 21, 2000
One only has to look through its Arts Museum to know
that Cairo is a leader in the Arab art world. Given this cultural
prestige, it seems fitting that the Cairo International Film Festival
offers a window into cinema -- not only from Arab countries, but
from around the world.
Egypt
has a great cinematic...
Berlin
International Film Festival
February
7 - 18 (Germany)
On
the festival circuit since 1951, Berlin is known for bucking the
trends and setting its own. Unlike most European festivals, which
bemoan le Blockbuster (Cannes comes to mind), Berlin embraces
Hollywood but maintains an international esprit. Last year
its top honor, the Golden...
Rotterdam
International Film Festival
January 24 - February 4
Rotterdam
is one of the best indie-spirited festivals on the circuit. But
don't take our word for it. As Adam Langer explains in The Ultimate
Film Festival Guide, "the Rotterdam festival is one of
the biggest, one of the best, and one of the most creatively programmed.
Over the course of the festival, the ci...
Sundance
Film Festival
January 18 - 28, 2001
Sundance may lack the sunshine and glitter of its European counterparts
like Cannes and Venice, but it compensates with innovation and energy.
What other festival could convince film buffs and Hollywood executives
to bundle in the snow awaiting the screening of an indie film by
an unknown director? Or claim to have launched the...
Slamdance
Film Festival
January 20 - 27, 2001 (Park City, Utah)
At Slamdance, "the spirit of do-it-yourself filmmaking is present
in the halls, in the lines and at the parties in an incredibly supportive
environment that at times feels more like a college dorm room than
a festival," wrote Chris Gore in The Ultimate Film Festival
Survival Guide.
For...
Black
Nights Film Festival
Estonia, 3-10. December 2000
As the name suggests, the film festival Black Nights
Film Festival (BNFF) offers, entertainment in the long and dark
Estonian December nights. During
the first week of December every year, Estonian film audiences have
the opportunity to see international films in theatres that normally
would not find...
Flanders Int'l Film Festival
Ghent (Belgium), October 10 -21, 2000
After a pre-opening on 10th October with a concert conducted
by German-American composer Hans Zimmer with music from his most
recent scores for Gladiator and Mission Impossible 2,
the 27th Flanders International Film Festival gets into full swing
in the beautiful medieval city of Ghent, which is located midway
...
Sarasota
International Film Festival
January 10 - 14, 2001
The Sarasota Film Festival 2001 is set to kickoff on January 10,
2001 in Sarasota, Florida for five days of morning-to-night programs
celebrating the vision, excitement and spirit of one the world's
greatest art forms -- the motion picture.
Presented by Regal Cinemas, the fest is a non-competitive...
