I have to confess, I watched "The People Speak" last night, from 8-9, but then I turned to A&E's "The Jackson's: A Family Dynasty" Reality Show premiere ;) What I did see of "The People Speak" makes me want to see it in its entirety, yet still I went to bed without checking to see if they were going to do an encore performance last night on The History Channel, which they did at midnight, so I missed rec...

Nothing is more prized at a film festival than a World Premiere, the first go out of the gate of a film that can trace its origin to that very film event. It is what builds reputations for festivals and captures the attention of media professionals and press with special attentiveness. The Silverdocs International Film Festival, which ends on Sunday, has a good number of World Premieres to tantalize. Chief among them is tonight's Closing Night Gala screening of THE NINE LIVES OF MARION BARRY, a ...

  by Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Dailies Editor Nothing is more prized at a film festival than a World Premiere, the first go out of the gate of a film that can trace its origin to that very film event. It is what builds reputations for festivals and captures the attention of media professionals and press with special attentiveness. The Silverdocs International Film Festival, which ends on Sunday, has a good number of World Premieres to tantalize. Chief among them is tonight's...

 Thursday, October 25---------It was quite a coup for the London Film Festival to snag the World Premiere of the hotly anticipated LIONS FOR LAMBS, the latest directorial (and acting) effort of the Sundance Kid himself, Robert Redford. Heading an all-star cast that includes Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep, the highly topical drama is Redford's pointed commentary on the zeitgeist of wartime America, the complicity of politicians and the press, and the indifference of the general public who are not b...

 Thursday, October 25---------It was quite a coup for the London Film Festival to snag the World Premiere of the hotly anticipated LIONS FOR LAMBS, the latest directorial (and acting) effort of the Sundance Kid himself, Robert Redford. Heading an all-star cast that includes Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep, the highly topical drama is Redford's pointed commentary on the zeitgeist of wartime America, the complicity of politicians and the press, and the indifference of the general public who are not b...

 Thursday, October 25---------It was quite a coup for the London Film Festival to snag the World Premiere of the hotly anticipated LIONS FOR LAMBS, the latest directorial (and acting) effort of the Sundance Kid himself, Robert Redford. Heading an all-star cast that includes Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep, the highly topical drama is Redford's pointed commentary on the zeitgeist of wartime America, the complicity of politicians and the press, and the indifference of the general public who are not b...

 Sunday, June 17-------At the risk of being a moth-eaten cliche, the term "fog of war" is now routinely used to describe a state where political, strategic and moral choices in areas of conflict become shaded by the exigencies of human response to violence and an abandonment of an ethical compass that determines policy and behavior. This "fog of war" has certainly descended on the chaos that is now unfolding in the Middle East, both in the five-year conflicts in Afghanistan...

Friday, January 19----And so we're off.....the Sundance Film Festival opened last evening with the world premiere of CHICAGO 10, an intoxicating mix of straight-ahead documentary, visionary animation and truthful recreation of one of the more shameful periods of recent American history. The trial of the Chicago 10, leaders of the anti-war protestors who had gathered in Chicago for the 1968 Democratic Party Convention to express their outrage with the Vietnam War, was a milestone clash between...

Tuesday, January 16----Even from a distance of 5000 miles, sitting comfortably in front of my flat screen television, and watching with amusement the telecast of the Golden Globe Awards, it was clear that this is one of Hollywood's biggest and most irreverent parties. It has long been noted that because the Awards Ceremony takes place in a hotel ballroom, where food is being served, and liquor is constantly being brought out, that this awards show is a far cry from the dignified demeanor of th...

Bobby, the documentary by Emilio Estevez on the 1968 assassination of U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy, will be previewed on Saturday, December 30 at the Capri, Hollywood International Film Festival. (www.caprihollywood.com). After critical acclaim at the exhibition of Venice and in the United States, the film will be seen in Italy beginning in 2007 thanks to 01 Distribution. Its Italian opening will be at the Blue Island where, among others, it will be a focus of discussion at the Fiuggi Symposium ...

Thursday, October 5----A documentary co-directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple on the controversial country-and-western group The Dixie Chicks, will have its International Premiere at the Turks & Caicos International Film Festival, a unique event that fuses film and music. The Festival opens on October 17 on the beautiful Caribbean island archipelago of the Turks and Caicos Islands. DIXIE CHICKS: SHUT UP AND SING, co-directed by Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck, follows the D...