(A LETTER TO UNCLE BONMEE, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand)    September is only 9 days old, and already the pace of the worldwide film scene is in high gear. As the Venice International Film Festival goes into its final weekend, the excitement is just starting today at the Toronto International Film Festival. Add to that an excellent regional event on the lux island of Martha's Vineyard in Cape Cod, the Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival (www.mvfilmsociety.org), a...

 .............                                                                                                                                                          WELCOME TO OUR NEWSLETTER N° 475: September 3, 2010 THE SUMMER WRAP NEWSLETTER Follow this LINK if you cannot read the newsletter properly Contact the Editor, Advertise on the sites.  Our newsletter ...

  Film, at its most loftiest, can be a unifying force on the planet and the people who work in it, both in front and behind the camera, can be its "global citizens". That is the spirit that has inspired the Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival (MVIFF) to bestow their first ever Global Citizen Award to actor/activist Matthew Modine. The award, created by local sculptor Barney Zeitz, will be presented on Saturday, September 11, 2010, following the screening of TH...

Renowned actor Matthew Modine will receive the MV International Film Festival's first annual "Global Citizen" award.The award, created by Vineyard sculptor Barney Zeitz, will be presented on Saturday, September 11, 2010. Mr. Modine's new film " The Trial," directed by Gary Wheeler and to be released by 20th Century Fox, will screen at 7:30 at the Capawock Theatre on Vineyard Haven's Main Street. The award presentation and a Q&A with audience members will immediately follow the screening. Mr. Ma...

The Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival announces the line up for 2008 festival September 11-14th, in Vineyard Haven, MA. Produced by the Martha's Vineyard Film Society, the MVIFF will screen 30 international features and documentaries and two Short Film programs. Several filmmakers will be in attendance. Among the high profile films selected are: Irena Salina's Flow, For Love of Water (Opening Night), Lucy Walker's Blindsight, Ellen Kuras's The Betrayal, Liz Mermin's Shot in Bombay, ...

Monday, September 18---After four days of film excitement, the Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival ended its inaugural session with an enthusiastic thumbs up from Festival audiences, visiting filmmakers and local businesses. The Festival, which was based in the harbor town of Vineyard Haven on the unique island resort of Martha's Vineyard, has now literally drawn a line in the sand and has the great potential to become a major destination site in years to come. Nearly all of the fil...

Festival HQ at the Mansion House Saturday, September 16---While the bulk of the program here at the Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival is devoted to international filmmakers, the Festival is presenting a showcase for local film talent, under the title of THINK GLOBALLY, SHOOT LOCALLY. The program is presented today from 1:00pm to 4:00pm at the Mansion House, the historic inn that is hq for Festival activities. Local filmmakers Ken Wentworth and Liz Witham introduce a series of shor...

Friday, September 15----A late, but welcome, addition to the film schedule of the Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival, is a fascinating look at the life and work of whale biologist Dr. Roger Payne. The film, A LIFE AMONG WHALES, features breathtaking underwater photography along with its ecological message of environmental activism. Dr. Payne, a MacArthur Fellowship winner and one of the leading oceanographic researchers in the field, has advanced the boundaries of science and activ...

Friday, September 15---One of the key human tragedies and human mysteries of the 1970s was the mass suicide of 900 followers of the Peoples Temple, a fundamentalist group that originated in San Francisco and eventually moved into refuge in Guyana. The group's charismatic leader, Jim Jones, was a true enigma....a spiritual leader of immense charisma who had an amazing hold over his followers. Why hundreds of them were willing to commit mass suicide on his orders is one of the mysteries explored...

The Danish Poet Tuesday, September 12----Short films from around the world will be heavily represented at the Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival, which kicks off this Thursday. First up, the Festival presents a Showcase of International Short Films, to screen on Friday evening at the Vineyard Playhouse, one of the Festival's key screening venues. The program highlights four films that have won awards and acclaim at previous international film festivals. The four superb short form fi...

Monday, September 11----With only four days to go until its Gala Opening, the Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival will be the place to be to screen quality international films and attend some exciting evening receptions and special events...all in the majestic beauty of early Fall in this New England island gem. For anyone who has been to this fable isle knows that Vineyarders love to party. The festivities begin this coming Thursday with sunset cocktails at the historic Mansion Ho...

Wednesday, September 6----With little over one week to go before the launch of the Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival, FEST21.COM's Festivals Editor Sandy Mandelberger sat down with Richard Paradise, the Festival's Co-Director (along with Nevette Previd), to discuss his goals and hopes for this year's inaugural event. Sandy Mandelberger: There are so many film festivals already on the calendar, and September is a particularly business month...what was your inspiration to launch an e...

MOOLADE The Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival, which debuts on September 14th, will feature a showcase of 15 international films from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. The Festival, in its first outing, will be focused on a diverse international program that mixes the works of established film auteurs with the debut films of rising young talents, to offer an exciting panorama of exceptional films from around the globe. The respected film auteurs in the program include veter...