Saturday, June 3----FESTROIA: The Troia International Film Festival, will present nearly 180 films, representing 48 countries, with a strong predominance of European cinema, during its 22nd annual showcase. The Festival, the oldest and most prestigious in Portugal, has several competition sections in its wide-ranging program.
The Official Section, in competition for the Golden Dolphin Award, is made up of 14 films, from nations that produce fewer than 30 films per year. This is a unique approa...
After 10 months of previewing at films from the four corners of the globe and putting our viewing technology into meltdown, Revelation is proud to unveil the 2006 program.Featuring the strongest range of feature films in the event’s nine year history, the 2006 program cements Rev’s reputation as one of the most individual and creatively driven international film festivals in the region.“We’re committed to working both within and without the established exhibition and distribution structu...
If you think the only San Francisco love fest took place during the summer of 1967, think again. No one was wearing flowers in their hair at the Castro Theatre on the May 4th Closing Night of the San Francisco International Film Festival, but a special feeling was certainly in the air. Graham Leggat, the executive director of the San Francisco Film Society (SFFS), took the stage to applause and hoots and whistles, stating, “G’d evening, guys. No festival from Alaska to Argentina has done so...
Over a month ago at the press conference kicking off SFIFF 49, Linda Blackaby announced the documentary line-up, adding that these selections were “often some of the most popular films in our festival.” The gifted director of programming for the San Francisco Film Society noted that a dozen of them would compete in the Golden Gate Awards, and 11 more filled the slate of nonfiction features representing 13 countries. There’s not an emperor penguin among them. Blackaby singled out titles dea...
Once a year hundreds of foreigners from around the world flock to the picturesque city of Jeonju, in Jeollabuk province, where one of Korea’s top festivals is held. Praised for both its audience record and its organization, the 7th Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF) is set to take off next week for a 9-day run. Beginning April 27th, over 190 films from 42 countries will be presented to the general public. Both Koreans and expats, seeking a reprieve from the smog and bustle of the capita...
The 9th Cine Las Americas International Film Festival has announced its program, which is available online at www.cinelasamericas.org. (Please see attachments for full schedule and film info.)At the Web site, users can navigate films by title, program section, venue, and country of origin. Festival passes ($60) and tickets for individual screenings ($5 to $7) are also available online, as well as at the box office.This year’s festival program runs from Wednesday, April 19, through Sunday, Apr...
The 42nd Hugo Awards for Excellence in Television, hosted by Janet Davies and Lou Canellis of ABC-7’s 190 North, will take place this Thursday, March 23, 2006 at Chicago’s Park West. Winners of the 2006 Hugo Awards Competition will be announced, with artists present to accept their awards in categories for both television programs and commercials. Over 15 countries participated in this year’s competition including works from South Africa, Argentina, Taiwan, Sweden, Denmark and Hong Kong. E...
The celebrated 8th Annual Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, presented by Sundance Channel and Avis Rent-a-Car has unveiled the line-up of the best gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender films that will be featured during the 10 day event from April 21 to April 30. The screenings will take place at Regal Cinemas South Beach, Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, Colony Theatre and the Gateway Cinemas (located in Fort Lauderdale). The announcement was made today by Co-Directors of the Festival, ...
Filmmakers from around the world will gather April 5-9 for Aspen Shortsfest 2006 at the Wheeler Opera House and other locations in Aspen and Carbondale, Colorado. Now in its 15th year, Shortsfest will present an array of short films for all ages chosen from over 45 countries. Two evenings of selected festival highlights will also screen April 14 - 15 at Denver’s Starz FilmCenter in association with the Denver Film Society. From premiers to Oscar®-nominated shorts, this year's International C...
SPOTLIGHT ON WOMEN DIRECTORSThe Directors Guild of America reports that less than 10% of its membership are women. In the history of the Academy Awards, only three women have ever been nominated for Best Director (Lina Wertmuller, Jane Campion and Sofia Coppola). While women head major studios and are prolific producers, there still is a “glass ceiling” regarding women directors. But at the Miami International Film Festival....it's a woman's world, and male journalists like myself just have ...
MAR DEL PLATA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (March 9-19th)The 21st edition of the Mar del Plata International Film Festival will have as special guest Juliette Binoche and Abel Ferrara. Other important guest that will be present in the festival are Jesús Aranda, Ventura Pons, Patricia Reyes Espíndola, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Michael Winterbottom, Radaman Suleman, Charles McDougall and Paul Morrisey. Some of they will dictate Master Classes that will take place at the Salon Versalles. The fe...
35th International Film Festival RotterdamWednesday, January 25 – Sunday, February 5, 2006During the IFFR 2006 Awards Ceremony on Friday, February 3, 2006 in Concert and Congress Centre ‘de Doelen’ in Rotterdam, the winning films of the 35th International Film Festival Rotterdam were announced. The three VPRO Tiger Awards were granted to WALKING ON THE WILD SIDE (LIA XIAO ZI) by Han Jie (China/France), THE DOG POUND (LA PERRERA) by Manuel Nieto Zas (Uruguay/Argentina/Canada/Spain), both su...
the International Film Festival Rotterdam has taken the initiative to create the Hubert Bals Fund Plus!, aimed at offering Dutch producers an opportunity to participate more in international film projects. The Netherlands Film Fund has made two hundred thousand euros available for the finance of co-productions with films awarded by the HBF for 2006. During the next Holland Festival (June 2-25, 2006 in Amsterdam), IFFR will be presenting a limited summer edition, June 15 – 18, of the film festi...
The 17th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival came to a successful close on Sunday, January 15, 2006. The Festival, which ran from January 5-16, 2006, screened 232 films from 71 countries, including 84 premieres and 49 of the 54 foreign entries for this year’s Academy Awards. Palm Springs’ increasingly popular Festival continues to expand its diverse programming of quality independent and foreign films, setting the stage for this year’s film festival circuit.“We were overwhe...
The Sheffield International Documentary Festival is delighted to announce the launch of its UK Tour at the NATIONAL FILM THEATRE from the 2nd – 5th February 2006. Returning for the seventh year, it features the ‘best of the fest’ from the Festival which took place in October 2005. The four day event marks the beginning of a three month UK tour visiting numerous towns and cities including Belfast, Bradford, Bristol, Brixton, Chichester, Derby, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hammersmith, Hereford, Lee...
The International Film Festival Rotterdam has selected fourteen films for the VPRO Tiger Awards Competition of its 35th edition which will start January 25. The Competition line up counts nine world premieres, three international premieres and two European premieres. Four titles were supported by the IFFR’s Hubert Bals Fund and one title was previously selected as CineMart Project. Two competition titles have been acquired already for release in The Netherlands: LAND OF THE BLIND and NORTHERN ...
Hubert Bals Fund Conference on training next generation of filmmaking voicesOn Sunday 29th January 2006, the International Film Festival Rotterdam will organize a Hubert Bals Fund Conference in Rotterdam entitled “Raising Voices.” Representatives from training organizations from around the world will come together to discuss the design of training programs that will stimulate the next generation of culturally distinctive and authentic filmmaking voices.The conference will examine the questio...
14TH PORTLAND JEWISH FILM FESTIVALSAT JAN 14 7 PM WHITSELL AUDITORIUMSUN JAN 15 4 PM GUILD THEATRELIVE AND BECOMEFRANCE/ISRAEL 2005DIRECTOR: RADU MILHAILEANUWinner of (cheering) Audience Awards at the Berlin and Vancouver International Film Festival, LIVE AND BECOME is an epic, emotional story of one boy's chance survival amidst the Ethiopian famine of the mid-1980s. A mother conspires to place her nine-year-old, non-Jewish son with a group of Falashas (Ethiopian Jews) bound for Israel as par...
This winter, the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival celebrates its 3rd year of showcasing the best in documentary film from around the world. From February 16 - 22, 2006 Big Sky will present 96 films and videos from 28 countries, including 14 World Premiers and 10 U.S. and North American Premiers.Big Sky has quickly built a strong national and international reputation for its programming excellence and established itself as the premier venue for nonfiction film in the American West. In 2005, afte...
The fourth annual Tampa International Film Festival will run February 3-11, 2006 at Sunrise Cinemas and the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI). A major retrospective of the Indian master filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta will be presented at the Festival, along with his most recent feature Kaalpurush (Memories in the Mist). Dasgupta is a well-known Bengali director, writer and producer. He will attend the Festival and introduce his films.Award-winning Canadian director Bernard Émond will atten...
Jorgen Leth interview by Wendy Dent Festival dei Popoli, Florence 7 December 2005WD: This festival was very unique in that it expanded my definitions of what documentary is and this is what stunned me about your films, is they were staged and it really broadened my idea of what documentary is but made me wonder where is the line, where is the definition? Once you start to have actors and you make a comment about society, but even drama is a comment on humanity so I am wondering what you feel abo...
45 film projects selected for CineMart 2006 (29 January – 2 February) • Former CineMart Projects in official selection Rotterdam 2006The 23rd CineMart has announced its selection of forty-five independent film projects. The world’s first and largest co-production market will include new productions by established art house directors such as Pablo Trapero, Guy Maddin, Alexej German jr and Li Yang. CineMart expects some 800 guests to attend, including decision making executives from all majo...
RICHARD PENA ON HIS WORK III Do you think that the continued expansion of film festivals is indication of the growing cinematic interest by the audience?I wish it were that. I don’t know. It is probably an indication of more people looking for ways of having jobs that are more glamorous. I am not sure how much it helps films. The vast majority of the festivals have no impact on the films at all. In the best possible of all worlds it is a nice cultural activity, but they do not really affec...
Sundance Institute today announced the line-up of films for the Independent Feature Film and World Cinema Competitions in the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, taking place January 19-29, 2006, in Park City, Utah. The Competition categories provide audiences with first look at the most compelling new dramatic and documentary films from emerging independent filmmakers. As the premier showcase for the best new work of American independent and international filmmakers, the Sundance Film Festival screen...
Juan Solanas' Nordeste won the Best Film award at the Stockholm International Film Festival (Novemeber 17-27). Solanas received the Bronze Horse award at a star-studded ceremony at Lydmar Hotel in Stockholm, the hub of the festival for the press and visiting directors and actors including Park Chan-wook, whose film Sympathy for Lady Vengeance closed the festival. The award was presented to Solanas by Eva Fröling, acclaimed dramatic actress from Ingmar Bergman films and actor Sven Wolter. Solana...
