Moving into its final 5 days, the Locarno Film Festival, set in the beautiful mountain city in southern Switzerland, has announced its first set of awards for its 65th edition. The awards for the 2010 Open Doors Factory, the Festival’s co-production lab that is organised with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), were announced on Tuesday, August 10.
The 2010 session was devoted to cinema from...
Thai cinema scored an impressive second major victory (after winning the Cannes Palme d'Or for UNCLE BOONMEE) at the ERA New Horizons International Film Festival, Poland's most important film event, this past weekend. MUNDANE HISTORY (Jao Nok Krajok/), a biting critique of Thai society by fledgling director Anocha Suwichakornpong has won the Grand Prix of the NEW HORIZONS International Competition, the Festival's highest honor. The award includes a cash prize of 20,000 Euros and g...
The American indie film THE MYTH OF THE AMERICAN SLEEPOVER has won the inauguaral American Indie Newcomer Prize at the Munich Film Festival for debut filmmaker David Robert Mitchell. The prize includes a 5000 Euro cash award endowed by the U.S. Consulate General. The Festival wrapped this past weekend.
The coming-of-age story about a few teenagers who sneak out of the house one night premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in March, where it received a special jury prize for Bes...
WARBRICK (Meihana and Pere Durie, New Zealand)
Since the Inuit drama ATANARJUAT won the prestigious Camera D'Or at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, dramas and documentaries from the native peoples of Canada and elsewhere have been highly appreciated at film festivals and film events around the globe. For this year's 20th anniversary of the Montreal First Peoples Festival, an event that combines visual arts, performances and film and video productions, the attention on the quality ...
Bollywood casts such a strong shadow over Indian cinema, that it may be surprising to many film buffs that many other regional cinemas in the country of India are thriving. With 50 different languages and vast differences between various states, films from Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Punjab are only four of the various film cultures that are producing interesting and varied work. In this regard, documentaries, short films and animated works from India are also virtually unknown ou...
The 26th edition of FESTROIA, the oldest and most prestigious film event in Portugal, concluded last weekend with the announcement of the Golden Dolphin Awards. This has been a rough period for cultural organizations in Portugal, with an already uncertain economy facing new challenges from what could be a long period of austerity. However, despite this, Festival Director Fernanda Silva continue the traditions begun by Festival founder Mario Ventura to create an event that reaches hig...
(UNTITLED), the satire of the New York art world directed by Jonathan Parker, has secured distribution by Swedish sales company Nonstop Enterrtainment as a result of its win in the North American Independents competition at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival held this past December in Estonia.
The film, which stars Adam Goldberg as an avant-garde musician who romances a gallerista who is involved with his successful painter brother, was one of ten American and Canadian films...
The Oscars are returning to February come 2011, after holding off until March this past year due to the Winter Olympics. By thus shortening the "Oscar season", and still expanding the list of Best Picture nominees to ten films, look to this next year to be a shorter but more intense Oscar marathon.
The 83rd annual ceremony will take place on the last Sunday in February, which falls on February 27th, 2011. For decades, the ceremonies were held in late March or early A...
With the announcement of Oscar nominations this morning and a definitive win at last weekend's Directors Guild of America Awards, helmer Kathryn Bigelow is poised to make history as the first women director to win a Best Director Oscar for her work on the intense Iraq War drama THE HURT LOCKER.
Bigelow is only the fourth woman director ever to be nominated in the 85 year history of the awards (her predecessors included Italian director Lina Wertmuller for SEVEN BEAUTIES, Amer...
Yes, we all expected AVATAR and THE HURT LOCKER to have good showings for this morning's Oscar nomination announcements (they are both tied at 9 nominations each) and we were not surprised when the names George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep were intoned at the 5:30am ceremony in Los Angeles. And yes, even the six nods for PRECIOUS (including well-deserved nominations for Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, director Lee Daniels and screenwriter Geoffrey Flet...
Well, after watching the Golden Globe Awards ceremonies last evening, I had the distinct feeling: who needs the Oscars? I've already seen the winning films, directors and actors and heard their acceptance speeches. The Oscar ceremony, which is not scheduled until six weeks from now, seems quite besides the point. Except for the fashion ("who are you wearing?" is the question of the moment), I am imagining that last night's Golden Globe winners will be simply re-doing their "best of" acceptance...
Well, after watching the Golden Globe Awards ceremonies last evening, I had the distinct feeling: who needs the Oscars? I've already seen the winning films, directors and actors and heard their acceptance speeches. The Oscar ceremony, which is not scheduled until six weeks from now, seems quite besides the point. Except for the fashion ("who are you wearing?" is the question of the moment), I am imagining that last night's Golden Globe winners will be simply re-doing their &...
While most people go to the movies to escape the avalanche of bad news that seeks to overwhelm us, two films with topical subjects are emerging as the frontrunners in the Best Picture Oscar race. THE HURT LOCKER, the much lauded Iraqi War drama directed by Kathryn Bigelow, and UP IN THE AIR, the Jason Reitman-helmed, George Clooney-starrer that has the economy and corporate layoffs as its background motif, are the most honored films of the year so far by a range of critics groups and ...
In the 81 year history of the Academy Awards, nearly 500 films have been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. Up until now, not a single film that was directed by a black filmmaker has been included on that list. However, this year, with the critical and popular success of the urban indie drama PRECIOUS, that ignoble record could be history.
PRECIOUS, directed by Lee Daniels, has undergone a fascinating journey to become the "it" film of the indie film season.....a jo...
AN EDUCATION, the 1960s-set drama by Danish director Lone Scherfig, led the pack at the announcement of the 30th London Film Critics’ Circle Awards nominations. The film scored seven nominations, including British Film of the Year and notices for actors Carey Mulligan, Alfred Molina, Rosamund Pike and Olivia Williams.
AN EDUCATION will compete for Best British film with the likes of Jane Campion’s BRIGHT STAR, Armando Iannucci’s IN THE LOOP, Andrea Arnold’s FISH TANK, ...
NINE (directed by Rob Marshall)
The Screen Actors Guild, the most important union of actors and actresses working in film and television, have announced their award nominees for this year. With the focus squarely on the acting arts, the list of those tapped for possible awards makes another pit stop in the road to the Oscars (which will be given out this year on March 7).
As expected, lead and supporting actors in the films as UP IN THE AIR, PRECIOUS and INGLORIOUS BASTERDS ...
How do you follow up an international success like JUNO?Well....writer/director Jason Reitman, who has only three feature films to his credit, is sailing into Oscar town with his latest serious satire, UP IN THE AIR. The George Clooney-starrer has already been named Best Picture of the Year by several critics groups and has now posted the biggest nomination record for this year's Golden Globe Awards (will Oscar gold be far behind????).
UP IN THE AIR has scored six 2009 Golden G...
The awards season is officially on with the presentation last evening of the GOTHAM INDEPENDENT FILM AWARDS in New York City. The Awards are sponsored by the Independent Feature Project/IFP, a filmmaker organization that is at the forefront of the American independent film movement.
The Iraq war drama THE HURT LOCKER has solidified its chances at Oscar gold by winning two awards, was named Best Feature and captured the prize for Best Ensemble Cast (shared by Jeremy Renner, Antho...
The awards season is officially on with the presentation last evening of the GOTHAM INDEPENDENT FILM AWARDS in New York City. The Awards are sponsored by the Independent Feature Project/IFP, a filmmaker organization that is at the forefront of the American independent film movement. The Iraq war drama THE HURT LOCKER has solidified its chances at Oscar gold by winning two awards, was named Best Feature and captured the prize for Best Ensemble Cast (shared by Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian...
The Oscar for Best Animated Short Film is in the group of 10 nominated films announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences yesterday. In all, 37 short animated films from around the world were submitted, and that list has now been culled down to 10 films.
The Short Films and Feature Animation Branch Reviewing Committee viewed all the eligible entries for the preliminary round of voting in screenings held in New York and Los Angeles. They will now select the fin...
Michael Moore's name and his latest film CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY were stark omissions when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences named 15 films that have made the short-list in the Documentary Feature category for the 82nd Academy Awards. Of 89 films submitted, the Oscar race has been pared down to these fifteen.
“The Beaches of Agnes”
Agnes Varda, director (Cine-Tamaris)
“Burma VJ”
Anders Ostergaard, director (Magi...
The MIAAC Indian Film Festival, sponsored by the Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council, wrapped up five days of premiere screenings, special events, chic parties and industry networking events with a gala awards ceremony on Sunday night, November 15th at the Walter Reade Theatre at New York's Lincoln Center. The ceremony included the US premiere of Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury’s ANTAHEEN. Stars Rahul Bose and Kalyan Roy attended the premiere along with actors and filmmakers including Sh...
Charting the documentaries that will eventually will be tapped for Oscar gold is a sport popular in the world of non-fiction filmmakers and their devoted public. With documentaries showing considerable clout at the box office and responsible for adding to the public discourse about global warming, globalization and other 21st century vices, the announcements last week of nominees from the International Documentary Association holds special interest. Winners will be feted on December 4t...
Wednesday, December 3-------The British Independent Film Awards, referred to as the "Brit indie Oscars" were announced this past weekend in London. A groovy event held this year at the Old Billingsgate Market, the BIFAs have become the cool alternative to the BAFTA Awards, which will be given out in January 2009.
The big winner of the evening, further consolidating its international box office performance is SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, the crowd-pleaser fr...
Wednesday, December 3-------On the same day as the Film Independent Spirit Award nominations were announced (cheeky, that), the annual Gotham independent Film Awards were given out in New York City. Winning top honors were FROZEN RIVER by Courtney Hunt as Best Feature Film and TROUBLE THE WATER by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal as Best Documentary.
FROZEN RIVER'S lead actress Melissa Leo also won the Gotham Breakthrough Actor award, and along wih her Film Inde...
