Friday, August 10--------The division between real life and fantasy is not so clear in the newly released comedy 2 DAYS IN PARIS, written and directed by actress (now debut director) Julie Delpy. After years of working in both Hollywood and Paris, Delpy has been given the opportunity to direct her own project, one that draws on her real life confrontation with the French/American divide. That cultural, political and even psychological chasm has only grown in the last decade, as Americans and t...

Friday, June 29--------The general public perhaps doesn't realize that the first step for any film to have a chance at a theatrical career is the commitment of the film distributor to take the financial risk to bring the film to a wider public. When the films in question are artistic expressions by some of cinema's most lauded auteurs, that risk is not necessarily any smaller, but the rewards certainly are larger. That about sums up the commitment to excellence that New York-based arthou...

Istanbul International Film Festival announces juries and special programs to mark 25th editionNew section for women’s films also announcedISTANBUL - The jury for the International Golden Tulip competition of the 25th International Istanbul Film Festival will be chaired by Jean-Paul Rappeneau, the accomplished French director known for his period films and in particular for his Cyrano de Bergerac, starring Gérard Depardieu. Other members of the jury include: Prune Engler, director of the La ...

The biggest and starriest showcase of French cinema ever seen will be presented around the UK during March 2006 – in both independent and multiplex cinemas.The Renault French Film Festival 2006 - a new fusion of two events that previously have promoted le cinema français in the UK, will deliver a stimulating and, at times, challenging array of films in nine key locations: London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee.The French Film Festival UK which...

The Donostia-San Sebastian film festival on the incredibly picturesque North Spanish coast, ("NAZIOARTEKO ZINEMALDIA" in the exotic Basque language of the region), has opened heavily "front loaded" as the saying goes these days, which means that many of the big guns, films with high prize potential, have already been fired off in the first few days. The festival opener was, appropriately, "Obaba", one of the most eagerly awaited Spanish films of the year based on a Basque language best seller b...

Rio International Film Festival 2005 September 22 through October 6The Rio Int'l Film Festival (Festival do Rio), taking place in one of the world's most famous cities September 22 - October 6, will light up Rio de Janeiro with the brightest and best of world cinema. The biggest and most important showcase for Latin American cinema, and one of the biggest in the world, this year's festival will play host to more than 300 features and documentaries from 60 countries with screenings spread over 35...

48th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21-May 5) Widen your focus. That’s the tagline of the 48th San Francisco International Film Festival, whose curtains opened at the Castro Theatre on Thursday night, April 21. North America’s oldest film festival is “dedicated to forging a relationship between cultures and countries,” stated Roxanne Messina Captor, San Francisco Film Society Executive Director and recent recipient of France’s Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des L...

NEW DIRECTORS, NEW FILMS: A GLOBAL VIEWThe 34th edition of New Directors/New Films, one of New York’s film highlights, opened this past weekend, another sign of a long delayed Spring for a city that has suffered through one of its coldest winters in fifty years. Anticipation is high among the city’s intrepid film adventurers, not only for the films themselves, but for their (partial) presentation at the expensively refurbished Museum of Modern Art (which just opened in November after a sixty...

Triumvirate of Acclaimed Film Writer/Directors: Claude Lelouch, Costa-Gavras and Bertrand Tavernier Host Premieres of New Films at 9 annual city of lights, city of angels: a week of french premieres in Los Angels. April 11-17, 2005“Men And Women,” the latest offering of veteran writer/director Claude Lelouch, will have its world premiere, opening night of City of Lights, City of Angels Film Festival (COL•COA) on Monday, April 11, 2005. The west coast premiere of writer/director Bertrand T...

FRENCH CINEMA HEATS UP SNOWY NEW YORKWhile winter continues to hold a grip on New York City just days away from the official start of Spring, the scent of optimism, passion and love is palpable, as the annual Rendez-Vous With French Cinema, an exquisite showcase of the finest films from la Belle France, begins this weekend at New York’s Lincoln Center.New York has had a long love affair with French cinema. From the pre-war classics of Jean Renoir, Jean Vigo and Marcel Carne, the film noir oeuv...

This year at Cannes directors are no longer the only ones to be given the chance to discuss their work. The 57th Festival sees the annual Leçons de Cinéma lecture series extended to actors, with the first lesson delivered by Max von Sydow. Born in Lund, Sweden, Max von Sydow studied at the Stockholm Drama Conservatory before beginning his career on stage. It wasn't until he met Ingmar Bergman, however, that he let himself be seduced by the silver screen. From that moment on he split his time b...