Veteran British film executive Michael Ryan, director of IAC Film, has been elected to a second consecutive two-year term as Chairman of the Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA), it was announced today by Jean Prewitt, president and chief executive officer, IFTA. Also elected at IFTA’s annual members meeting were new Executive Committee members and the Board of Directors for the association. Ryan, who ran unopposed, is the first IFTA Chairman from outside of the United States.The Al...
8th Annual BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM AWARDS (BIFA)A trio of films dominate the 2005 British Independent Film Award (BIFA) nominations announced today, Tuesday 25 October.The BIFAs, now regarded as the kick-off of to the awards season which culminates in the BAFTA and Academy Awards in Spring 2006, will be presented on Wednesday 30 November at Hammersmith Palais. Stephen Frears' Mrs Henderson Presents, debut director Laurence Dunmore's The Libertine, and Brazilian director Fernando Mereilles' The ...
DepicT! - the short film competition, which challenges budding filmmakers from around the world to make mini-masterpieces of under 90 seconds – has whittled down a record number of 320 entries to a short list of ten films. All of which are now live on: http://www.depict.orgMaddy Probst, DepicT! Organizer comments: “A staggering variety of entries were received, from filmmakers as far afield as Germany, Canada, Hungary, India and Brazil. The variety of styles, subjects and ideas expressed in ...
The six major Hollywood studios, hoping to gain more control over their technological destiny, have agreed to jointly finance a multimillion-dollar research laboratory to speed the development of new ways to fight movie pirates.The new nonprofit consortium will be called Motion Picture Laboratories Inc ( MovieLabs) and will be operationnal later this year. MovieLabs will have a budget of more than $30 million for its first two years. "We're not going to research how to make certain types of movi...
Following 8 years of successful collaboration with DDA Productions, who have financed and executive produced the European Film Awards ceremony, the European Film Academy is again moving into a new era. Starting with this year's edition, taking place on Saturday 3rd December in Berlin, the European Film Academy will take over the production of its annual celebration of European filmmaking. This mutually agreed development brings to its natural conclusion the trend started in 2003, when Wim Wende...
Strategic Partners Co-Production Market Key to International Film and TV Co-ProductionsNow in its 25th year, the Atlantic Film Festival (AFF) is known primarily for its celebration of films from Atlantic Canada and around the world. Lesser known is that the Festival presents the yearly industry event Strategic Partners Co-Production Market that generates millions in international film and television co-productions.The goal of Strategic Partners is simple: facilitate international co-productions....
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....
19 PRODUCERS ON THE MOVE 2005 selected forCannes International Film Festival (11 – 22 May 2005)Their first co-production “School’s Out” (directed by Miguel Martí) is already in the can: the producers Pandora Da Cunha Telles (Animatógrafo 2) from Portugal and Pedro Uriol (Morena Films) from Spain got talking at PRODUCERS ON THE MOVE 2004 in Cannes. A little bit later they had already settled on the basis for this joint project. European Film Promotion (EFP) launched the initiative PRODU...
The ADMC Digital Media InitiativeResponding to the Challenges of Digital Media for Multi-PlatformsSummary of the results of the workshop on February 1st, 2005 at AIC, Sophia-Antipolis, France- The AIC Business Resort and the ADMC Cluster Initiative- How to Get European Funding- New Challenges for Satellite Broadcasting- Convergence, a Broadcaster's Point of View- Panel 1: New Platforms for Digital BroadcastingWhat are the New Challenges? Which Content for Which Platform?- Panel 2: New Models of ...
2005 AIDC Pitching Projects AnnouncedThe 2005 Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC), which opens on Monday 21 February with a record number of key international guests, has announced the successful projects for the ABC ARTS Pitching Competition, the ABC/RTE Pitch and Punt, the SBS/TV2 Pitch and Punt and the Democracy Project Pitching. These competitions offer 23 pitching slots and along with the 21 pitching slots at DOCUMart, and the Bell Fund/SAFC/AFF Pitching Competition, th...
Ella Waldek, 74, and Ida Mae Martinez, 73, don't look much like movie stars. But as they answered questions and kibitzed for an audience at the historic Little Theater at the High Falls Film Festival here, it was clear that they were born to entertain. Ms. Waldek and Ms. Martinez are two real-life heroines of ''Lipstick and Dynamite the First Ladies of Wrestling,'' a crowd-pleaser directed by Ruth Leitman about the brash and lovable pioneers of women's wrestling in the 1940's and 50's. It may no...
The third Discovering Latin America Film Festival in LondonThe third edition of the ‘Discovering Latin America Film Festival’ closed in London on December 5th amid great satisfaction among the organizers. Although the event had grown considerably since last year, with a larger number of films and, for the first time, master classes, they had managed to make it run smoothly. This is an unusual film festival, run by a group of enthusiastic amateurs. The artistic director personally introduced ...
AFM Finance Conference at Fairmont Miramar HotelProgrammed by: Independent Film & Television AllianceFriday, 5 November 9am - 10:40am The Magic Behind the Deal Moderator: Lew Horwitz, President, Horwitz Entertainment Financial Services, Inc.Panelists: Mark Damon, Chairman & CEO, Mark Damon Productions Steve Fayne, Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP Bob Hayward, COO, Summit Entertainment Howard Kaplan, COO, Morgan Creek International Trevor Short, CFO, Nu Image 11am - 12:40pm The Futur...
EUROPACORP PLATFORMS RIO FILM FESTIVAL TO ANNOUNCE LANDMARK BRAZILIAN CO-PRODUCTIONEuropacorp, Luc Besson´s filmmaking European studio created in 2000 with his partner Pierre-Ange Le Pogam, is rapidly expanding its potential for international co-productions.Le Pogam, CEO of Europacorp, announced the first co-production with Latin America today at the Rio Film Festival in front of festival delegates, confirming that the first Brazilian movie will be shot mid-2005.The French-Brazilian co-producti...
In the following interview Miguel Pereira, Director of the Mar del Plata International Film Festival, speaks about his ideological position, his views about the past, the image he wants for the festival and the procedures to reach this aim. Fernando Madedo: First of all. Define Film Festival? Miguel Pereira: Today it`s very difficult to know what a Film Festival is, because there are more than seven thousands festivals around the world. I think that the word had included events that aren...
NEXT WEEKEND - AUGUST 27-29 The Westcliffe Digital Film Festival – a Truly Guerilla Film Festival Featuring Truly Independent FilmsThe Westcliffe Digital Film Festival—a production of the Westcliffe Independent Film Association (WIFA), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization—is a unique festival that showcases the newest filmmakers who self-finance their vision and create truly independent feature and short films on digital video. The festival will screen 17 DV films NEXT WEEKEND, Friday through...
Westcliffe Digital Film Festival Announces Official Film Selections for First Annual Indie Fest The premiere festival for showcasing truly independent, self-financed films originating on Digital Video releases the lineup of films that will be shown during the festival, August 27-29, 2004 in Westcliffe, Colorado. The festival jury announced today the official selection of films that will comprise the 1st Annual Westcliffe Digital Film Festival. They include: Nicolas Jenkins - Crutchmaster (9:00) ...
This year, for the first time in its history, the Czech Republic, represented by Czech Film Center, will actively participate in the legendary Cannes International Film Festival.Czech Film Center’s mission is twofold. While on the one hand it aims to re-establish the presentation of Czech cinematography to renowned foreign film professionals, on the other it seeks to communicate news about contemporary Czech cinematography and the country’s film industry infrastructure, and provide informat...
THE FIVE STAGES OF BEER IS KILLING BRIAN MIX SOFTLYLocal boy Brian Mix’s affable little ensemble picture The Five Stages of Beer is a romantic comedy with plenty of snark to ground it in reality and keep it interesting. It’s not the kind of movie that rocks anybody’s world, but the dialogue has the lazy charm of Kevin Smith on a good day, and it’s certainly refreshing to see a contemporary American comedy that looks at love from the straight-dude point of view without including a few doz...
23rd International Istanbul Film FestivalThis year the International Istanbul Film Festival, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, will take place between 10 – 25 April. The festival will present 203 films to cinema lovers.14 films will compete in the “International Competition” and 12 in the “National Competition” of the 23rd Istanbul Film Festival. (Details of the National Competition below)The “Tributes” section will feature a selection of works by Bahram Ba...
Mother Of All Babes screens as part of the Montreal 22nd International Festival of Films on Art 2004.Mother Of All Babes the ultimate documentary on the life and work of Jane Birkin Produced and directed by Gabrielle Crawford "In 1996 I was asked to Paris to photograph my friend Jane Birkin. I have been a friend of Jane since the 60's. We met through the film The Knack, in which Jane had a small part, and involved both our future husbands. The concert was to me an innovative masterpiece. I went ...
James’ Journey to Jerusalem 1st Feature Length Film written and directed by Ra’anan Alexandrowicz. Screenwriter and Director, Ra’anan Alexandrowicz, reveals how his indie film, James’ Journey to Jerusalem, came to life. James, a Nigerian banker, lives in Israel on an expired tourist visa and cleans houses. Back home he and his people imagine the holy land as it is depicted in the Bible. This strong belief in an abstract, fantastic existence clashes with that of Israel’s realit...
Foreign Films – and Denys Arcand -- Invade HollywoodThough fewer and fewer foreign films flicker on America’s screens every year, foreign films – and foreigners -- enjoyed a strong showing at Sunday night’s Academy awards. Nominations went to Brazilian’s City of God, New Zealand’s Whale Rider, France’s The Triplets of Belleville and Germany’s Die Rote Jacke, to name a few. Not one of these films walked away with the gold Sunday night, but plenty of New Zealander from the Lord of ...
