Sunday, June 22-----A film festival is invariably a series of moments. And if one is lucky, there is an interesting symmetry between those moments. And if one is very lucky indeed, then a special kind of serendipity brings those moments into some deeper understanding. When those moments are not officially related to one another, but still offer illuminating cross-referencing, it is all the more special. This was my experience over the past two days as I attended the final films of this year's...

The seventh AniFest, International Festival of Animated Films, is successfully over. According to latest data, around 35,000 visitors came to see the festival programs in 14 different venues around Třeboň. AniFest has brought the traditional mixture of good mood, beautiful setting, and what is most important, animation. AniFest Grand Prix was awarded to the French feature-length film “Persepolis” directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud.The winner of the International Comp...

The word "Calligraphy", is derived from the Greek language, "kallos", which translates to "beauty" while "graphe"/"writing", and is one of the most romantic and expressive ways to portray a language on paper. Some of the earliest writings were recorded on papyrus with reed pens, while medieval manuscripts were written on vellum. These formal characters and writings have been exhibited in museums, galleries, libraries, and private collections thro...

Sunday morning in San Francisco, Kevin Kelly, founding editor of Wired magazine, delivered the State of Cinema address. Kelly has worked in digital technology since his founding role with The Well, in 1985, one of the first "true" online communtities. So he had a lot to say about what the future, inevitably and obviously digital all the way, will look like for motion pictures. He opened his talk with a little factoid about life today: the amount of screens everywhere. "Anywhe...

Eastman Kodak Company announced today that its Board of Directors has elected Kimberly Snyder as a Vice President of the company, effective immediately. Snyder, 45, was last week named President and General Manager of Kodak's Entertainment Imaging business in the Film, Photofinishing and Entertainment Group. She is responsible for all aspects of Kodak's business with the motion picture and television industry. This includes both the traditional film technologies used to capture and print moving ...

The Franco American Cultural Fund today announced the line-up for the12th Annual City of Lights, City of Angels (COL•COA) film festival that will run from April 14-20. The festival will feature 48 films, including 27 features, 20 shorts and a World Premiere of a restored masterpiece. Acclaimed French comedy « Welcome to the Land of Shtis, » which is shattering all box office records in France, will have its North American premiere at COL•COA on opening night, April 14, 2008. The new Dany...

The thirty sixth edition of the International Film Festival in Belgrade Serbia, FEST 2008 (22nd of February-2nd of March) display latest films of the world in nowadays (art film and commercial film), this time putting Serbian cinematography into the European culture. With its top program FEST08 walks into his 36 years of existence with over 100 guests from the domestic and international film industry. The guest of honor however, Volker Schlondorff has opened the festival with his latest film “...

The 16th ANNUAL PAN AFRICAN FILM & ARTS FESTIVAL (PAFF) today announced the line-up of films selected from a record number of submissions for their 2008 film competition. Known for showcasing new films first and recognized as America's premiere black film festival, past PAFF features have included box office and award-winning hits: Ray, Lackawanna Blues, Redemption, Crazy As Hell, Kingdom Come, The Brothers, Gridlock'd, Days of Glory, and the 2006 Academy Award® winner for Best Foreign Film, T...

SPARK VFX '08Vancouver ACM SIGGRAPH and the Vancity Theatre are proud to present the SPARK VFX ?08 Film Festival. Featuring a selection of cinema's most influential visual effects (VFX) films, and film industry veteran speakers, SPARK celebrates the history of innovation in VFX. The films have been chosen from the "VES 50", a list of the 50 most influential and inspiring VFX films as selected by the Visual Effects Society. SPARK begins on January 30th with the panel "Celebrating Innovation and I...

15th Raindance Film Festival  will run September 25 - October 7thFeature Films and Feature Documentaries Screening  THE AMAZING LIVES OF THE FAST FOOD GRIFTERS [TACHIGUISHI RESTUDEN] Japan 104'Director: Mamoru OsuiiPrincipal Cast: Kaito Kissuoji, Mako Hyodo, Tosuio Suzuki, Shinji HiguchiShort Synopsis: Hit Japanese blockbuster from the director of Ghost in the Shell.THE AMAZING GRACE Nigeria 83'Director: Jeta AmataDirector of Photography: Joseph TaylorPrincipal Cast: Nick Moran, Scott...

NCM FATHOM, the entertainment division of National CineMedia, takes an unprecedented move in alternative theatre entertainment by announcing a special, four-day anime festival - "Anime Bento, 4 Nights, 4 Servings - The Hottest Anime Movies on the Big Screen" - with FUNimation Entertainment and Manga movies never before seen on the big screen with exclusive bonus features each night. The announcement was made at the 37th Comic-Con International, the largest comic book and pop culture event in Nor...

        Thursday, April 26-----As the Tribeca Film Festival opens its sixth edition, we are re-printing an interview with Festival Director Peter Scarlet from the Festival's own blog site:Can you paint a picture of the viewing process? SCARLET: The viewing process is a nonstop one, but programming is a lot more pro-active and a lot less passive than one might think. In essence my job involves a good deal of detective work, a nearly endless schedule of trav...

As the Tribeca Film Festival opens its sixth edition, we are re-printing an interview with Festival Director Peter Scarlet from the Festival's own blog site:Can you paint a picture of the viewing process? SCARLET: The viewing process is a nonstop one, but programming is a lot more pro-active and a lot less passive than one might think. In essence my job involves a good deal of detective work, a nearly endless schedule of traveling (sometimes to “fun” places, sometimes not)- both to other fes...

Monday, March 12—The Cinequest Film Festival may not generate buzz about industry distribution deals or celebrity sightings, but a record-breaking 70,102 indie film lovers joined several hundred filmmakers and technology innovators in downtown San Jose for the 12-day salute to all things maverick. Writer-director-cinematographer Stephane Gauger, Executive Producer Timothy Linh Bui (director of GREEN DRAGON, co-producer of THREE SEASONS) and actor Cat Ly (JOURNEY FROM THE FALL) closed the festi...

Le Salon du Cinéma goes backstage and will offer 3 days of cinematic adventure (12-14 January 2007) to more than 50 000 expected visitors in one location (8 000 m2). The Salon du Cinema offers cinema lovers of all kinds this unique occasion to discover cinema. "Cinema has its festivals, premieres, gatherings and award shows. Meanwhile, there are Salons and Exhibitions in almost every field; from cars and chocolates, to plants and bathrooms. Suprisingly, however, there has never been a "Sa...

The Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), which takes place every October in the south-eastern port city of Busan, South Korea gears up for its 11th edition, its largest thus far. In fact, the festival has grown to such proportions that US entertainment media Variety will begin publishing dailies at PIFF this year, something it until now had only done for the world’s top three film festivals, Cannes, Berlin, and Toronto. In Seoul, South Korea at an unusually crowded press conference, PIF...

The 10th PUSAN Int'l Film Festival, which will celebrate its 10th year anniversary edition from October 6th through 14th, has confirmed its official jury members. For the New Currents, the only competitive section dedicated to discovering new talents of Asian cinema, world’s renowned Abbas KIAROSTAMI will be serving as president of the jury with a group of 4 distinguished film professionals as follow: Christian JEUNE (Head of Films Department at the Festival de Cannes), Eric KHOO (director/pro...

Inaugural Dubai International Film Festival aims to build cultural bridges.Cultural understanding and international harmony will be the themes of the inaugural Dubai International Film Festival, Dubai Media City’s newly launched film festival scheduled for December 6-11, 2004.DUBAI MEDIA CITY CORPORATE PROFILEDubai Media City is the media arm of Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone which emerged out of the vision of His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Du...

Untitled Document The Future's Bright, The Future's Figgis Despite the imminent release of Cold Creek Manor,a thriller he made for Touchstone, Mike Figgis spent last week promoting artistic autonomy and experimentation. Returning to the very cinema in Newcastle where he was first infected with the film bug, Figgis performed - yes performed - an enthralling remix of his real-time, split-screen LA story Timecode. The performance was the final act of the city...